Aerotropolis

The emergent Dube TradePort airport city development forms the heart of the evolving Aerotropolis, taking shape in the major northern development corridor in KwaZulu-Natal, outside Durban.

The aerotropolis is destined to become a premier business and trade hub in Sub-Saharan Africa, on the doorstep of KwaZulu-Natal's biggest city and primary manufacturing centre, Durban. This city is also home to Africa's busiest seaport and the Southern Hemisphere's biggest and best equipped container terminal and is strategically positioned on the world's shipping lanes.

The embryonic Aerotropolis, with its continuously improving local, regional and international connectivity, may therefore be regarded as being on the cusp of becoming South Africa's new gateway to Southern Africa and the world, heralding in a new and globally-competitive business operating environment; one with the capacity to radically accelerate business efficiencies and stimulate the world-wide supply chain. 

Three components will clearly set the Aerotropolis apart, affording it a distinct competitive advantage over other South African and African destinations. They include:

  • Being a freight-orientated development with, at its heart, a world-class cargo facility managed by a single handler, Dube TradePort Corporation;
  • Being purpose-built; and
  • Being one of very few developments world-wide which incorporates a 'Greenfield' site with additional surrounding land available for carefully planned and controlled expansion.

The coastal situation of the Aerotropolis makes logistics a cost-effective proposition. Its development, in conjunction with the airport city component - Dube TradePort - together with burgeoning seaport infrastructure, direct access to numerous global destinations and linkages to SADC countries, combine to position KwaZulu-Natal as a key business point in South and Southern Africa.

Its potential for growth into the future brings together a plethora of like-minded stakeholders whose own objectives align with a shared goal: the creation of an investment climate conducive for the expansion and growth of KwaZulu-Natal's economy through the establishment of new opportunities for the broad business environment as a result of structured and planned development.