Bram Fischer International Airport
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | ACSA South African Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | CemAir | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,457 ft / 1,358 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°05′38″S 26°18′14″E / 29.09389°S 26.30389°E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | sa-airports | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  BFN Location in the Free State  BFN BFN (South Africa)  BFN BFN (Africa) | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||||||
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| Sources:DAFIF[1][2] | |||||||||||||||
Bram Fischer International Airport (IATA: BFN, ICAO: FABL) (Afrikaans: Bram Fischer Internasionale Lughawe) is a primary airport located in Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State province of South Africa. The runways are shared with AFB Bloemspruit.
History
The airport was opened in November 1961 and the runways were completed before the terminal buildings so that the South African Airforce could make use of them.[3]
Bloemfontein Airport, like many others in South Africa, underwent R46 million's worth of construction and upgrading of the whole airport in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[4]
In November 2012, the South African government announced that the airport's name was to be changed to Bram Fischer International Airport; the official renaming was performed by Pres. Jacob Zuma on Thursday, 13 December 2012.[5]
Facilities
The main terminal building is used for both international and domestic flights. In 2023, the airport served 346,373 passengers.
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Airlink | Cape Town, Durban,[6] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo |
| CemAir | Durban, George, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo[7] |
| FlySafair | Cape Town,[8] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo |
Traffic statistics
| Year | Aircraft | % Change | Passengers | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | – | – | 305,701 |  23.8%
|
| 2007 | – | – | 424,924 | 39.0%
|
| 2008 | – | – | 411,683 |  3.1%
|
| 2009 | – | – | 399,666 | 2.9%
|
| 2010 | – | – | 403,766 | 1.0%
|
| 2011 | – | – | 437,996 | 8.5%
|
| 2012 | 17,515 | – | 411,655 | 6.0%
|
| 2013 | 14,066 | 19.7%
|
382,155 | 7.2%
|
| 2014 | 16,702 | 18.7%
|
363,895 | 4.8%
|
| 2015 | 17,359 | 3.9%
|
393,471 | 8.1%
|
| 2016 | 17,945 | 3.4%
|
395,452 | 0.5%
|
| 2017 | 19,665 | 9.6%
|
396,725 | 0.3%
|
| 2018 | 18,618 | 5.3%
|
355,052 | 10.5%
|
| 2019 | 17,421 | 6.4%
|
357,391 | 0.7%
|
| 2020 | 10,554 | 39.4%
|
73,071 | 79.6%
|
| 2021 | 12,420 | 17.7%
|
204,692 | 180.1%
|
| 2022 | 13,725 | 10.5%
|
318,135 | 55.4%
|
| 2023 | 12,478 | 9.1%
|
346,373 | 8.9%
|
| 2024 | 12,192 | 2.3%
|
387,009 | 11.7%
|
See also
References
- ^ FABL aeronautical-chart (PDF)
- ^ Airport information for BFN at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ "About the Airport". www.airports.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ "shine2010.co.za". www.shine2010.co.za. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ "SA: Statement by Free State Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Bloemfontein International Airport renamed Bram Fischer International Airport and Petrus Steyn renamed Mamafubedu (13/11/2012)". Polity.org.za. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ "Airlink Schedules Durban – Bloemfontein Service From late-Feb 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "CemAir Bloemfontein Destinations".
- ^ "New SA route alert: FlySafair launches flights between Bloemfontein and Cape Town".
- ^ "ACSA Passenger Statistics". Airports Company South Africa. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ BFN Passenger Stats (PDF)
- ^ "BFN 25 AS" (PDF).
- ^ "BFN 25 PS" (PDF).
External links
Media related to Bram Fischer International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Bloemfontein Airport information - Plane spotting, road transport, airlines...
- Current weather for FABL at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for BFN at Aviation Safety Network