King Mswati III International Airport
King Mswati III International Airport
King Mswati III International Airport (IATA: SHO, ICAO: FDSK), is the primary international airport serving Eswatini. It replaced Matsapha Airport in 2014 as the only international airport in Eswatini that caters to commercial flights. It is designed to handle 360,000 passengers per year. The airport was initially named Sikhuphe International Airport in the planning and construction phase.
Location
26.359°S, 31.717°E · 333 m s. n. m. (1.092 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 3
Tower
Ground
Approach
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
Construction began in 2003 on this US$150M project. The Taiwanese government contributed US$22M to the project.
It is part of King Mswati III's $1bn millennium project investment initiative to enhance Eswatini's position as a tourist destination, serving as a tourism gateway to Eswatini's game parks, either domestic or nearby located ones, such as Victoria Falls, Maputo, the Kruger National Park and KwaZulu-Natal game reserves. However, the airport has been on the drawing board since 1980, and since then Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport has opened and Maputo and Durban airports have been upgraded. There are also environmental concerns since Sikhuphe is near Hlane Royal National Park and may put rare species of eagles and vultures at risk.
King Mswati III International Airport was planned to replace Matsapha Airport by 2010, with the latter being taken over by the army.
King Mswati III International Airport was inaugurated on 7 March 2014, despite not yet having an IATA license to operate. Service began on 30 September 2014.
Airlines operating here · 2
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: KrasseChecker · CC BY-SA 3.0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.
This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). King Mswati III International Airport (SHO). Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO
MLA
“King Mswati III International Airport (SHO).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “King Mswati III International Airport (SHO).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) King Mswati III International Airport (SHO). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_sho,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{King Mswati III International Airport (SHO)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO}},
urldate = {2026-10-24},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SHO |title=King Mswati III International Airport (SHO) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-24 |language=en}}