Wonderboom Airport (IATA: PRY, ICAO: FAWB), also known as Wonderboom National Airport, is an airport located in Wonderboom, north of Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa. The City of Tshwane is the licence holder of the airport.
History
The concept of an airport for the Pretoria area originated with the Pretoria City Council in the 1930s. Wonderboom Airport opened for air traffic in 1937 and served as the base for the Pretoria Light Aircraft Company (PLACO) and the Pretoria Flying Club. PLACO began training student pilots, while the government used the airport for chartered flights.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the airport and its aircraft were taken over for military purposes by the Department of Defence. Civil aviation training largely ceased by 1940, and military flight training operations were relocated to Wonderboom from Cape Town, East London, and Port Elizabeth. From that period until March 1946, South African Air Force and Royal Air Force pilots were trained at the airport, which was considered advantageous due to its distance from the war zone and favourable weather conditions.
After the war, the airport was handed back to the Pretoria City Council, which undertook major extensions, again using it for flight training, charter operations, and aircraft maintenance. South Africa's first black pilot, Cayasas Modisa, completed his training at Wonderboom.
During 1960, a new terminal building, hangars, and workshops were constructed, the runway was extended, and landing lights were installed. A Boeing 737 named "Pongola" was the first of its type to land at Wonderboom. In 1993, the runway was again extended to 1,828 metres to accommodate larger aircraft.
Current Operations
The airport handles general aviation and passenger services. It hosts numerous companies on-site providing aircraft maintenance, helicopter services, flight training, firefighting support, aerial surveys and photography, and skydiving. Scheduled passenger flights between Wonderboom and Cape Town have been operated by Airlink.
Development Plans
As of the 2020s, the City of Tshwane has been developing a master plan aimed at upgrading Wonderboom National Airport into a "world-class aviation and logistics hub." The metro has been in discussions regarding upgrading the airport, including the potential reintroduction of commercial flights between Pretoria and Cape Town.
