Maseru Airport to be renovated in 2021 amid ICAO downgrading
With a degraded runway, and a dilapidated terminal, Moshoeshoe I International Airport in Maseru is on the way to being "blacklisted" by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This is what the director of civil aviation at the Lesotho Ministry of Public Works and Transport told the Lesotho Times on Tuesday (December 15th). According to Motsoale Lesupi, the country's only international platform only scored an average of 21.82% in the last ICAO audit in 2014.
To avoid the demotion, the airport rehabilitation works will start from March 2021, and will be completed in 2024. This repair will be carried out by Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA), the public manager of the majority of airports from South Africa. The work, valued at 500 million loti ($ 33.6 million), will be fully financed by the Lesothian state.
Once the rehabilitation is complete, Lesotho also plans to expand the platform. This includes, among other things, the extension of its runway to allow the landing of large planes such as the Boeing 747. Due to lack of financial means, the country is considering the Build-Operate-Transfer model. For the moment, he is still looking for investors interested in such a project. To ensure the safety and reliability of its airspace, the small southern African country is working on the creation of a national civil aviation agency.
