ELSFAEL
King Phalo Airport
Photo: Vysotsky, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
King Phalo serves East London and the central Eastern Cape, ten kilometres from the city. It carried 911,738 passengers in 2025/26, up 9.8 per cent, all of them domestic.
From the operator’s monthly filings · FY2025/26
- 911,738passengers, FY2025/26
- +9.8%against the previous year
- 0%of them international
- Decemberbusiest month
- Junequietest month
- 10 kmto East London
Domestic only, and the connection that implies
King Phalo recorded no scheduled international passengers in 2025/26. Every arrival from abroad reaches East London on a domestic connection, almost always through O. R. Tambo. Allow two hours for that change at Johannesburg: it involves immigration, baggage reclaim and a second check-in in the other terminal.
The airport was renamed from East London Airport in 2021, after the eighteenth-century Xhosa king Phalo. The IATA code ELS is unchanged.
What it serves
East London is the gateway to the Wild Coast to the north-east, the Amathole mountains inland, and the stretch of Indian Ocean shoreline between the Sunshine Coast and KwaZulu-Natal. It is a working port city rather than a resort, which is why its traffic is steadier through the year than the Cape airports.
Its seasonal spread is 26 per cent between the December peak and the June trough — one of the flattest curves in the country, and about half the swing at Cape Town.
Practicalities
One terminal, ninety minutes before a domestic flight, a 45-minute check-in cut-off, parking a short walk from the doors, hire-car desks in the arrivals hall and no train. Free Wi-Fi with a data cap.
Parking, hire cars and the drive out
Ten kilometres from the city, with the usual three parking tiers at short distances — long stay here is a walk, not a shuttle ride. Hire-car desks are in the arrivals hall.
The drive out matters more than usual at East London because the things people come for are spread along the coast. The N2 runs north-east towards the Wild Coast and south-west towards Gqeberha; the R72 coastal road to Port Alfred is the slower and better of the two southward options.
What the airport serves
The Wild Coast is the main draw — Coffee Bay, Hole in the Wall and the stretch of former Transkei shoreline north-east of the city, reached on roads that reward a high-clearance vehicle. The Amathole mountains and Hogsback lie inland, about two hours away. East London itself has the only river port in South Africa and a working beachfront.
Because this is a port and manufacturing city rather than a resort, its air traffic is unusually steady: a 26 per cent swing between its busiest and quietest month, against 46 per cent at Cape Town. Fares and availability move less here across the year than almost anywhere else in the country.
Month by month
Five years of traffic
South African financial years, 1 April to 31 March. Compiled from the operator’s own monthly passenger-movement statements. How we check these figures.
A domestic airport, and what that means for you
King Phalo recorded no scheduled international passengers at all in 2025/26. Every one of its 911,738 passengers was on a domestic or regional service. The name is a reflection of the facilities the airport holds, not of a route network it operates.
So if you are coming from abroad, you are connecting — almost certainly at O. R. Tambo, and occasionally at Cape Town. That connection is the part of the journey worth planning: an international-to-domestic change in Johannesburg means clearing immigration, reclaiming your own checked bag, walking to the other terminal and checking in again. Two hours is the minimum. The full connection guide sets out why.
East London
Photo: Vysotsky, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
One of the two steadiest airports in the country
Something unusual shows up when you read the monthly filings rather than the annual total. King Phalo’s busiest month runs only 26 per cent above its quietest — the flattest curve of any South African airport alongside Bram Fischer, against 46 per cent at Cape Town and 76 at Upington.
A flat curve means the traffic is not holiday traffic. It is people travelling for work, for family and for the business of a provincial city, at much the same rate all year. For a visitor that has one concrete implication: there is little to gain by timing your trip here. Choose on weather, not on crowds, because the crowds barely change. The month-by-month figures for every airport.
Using a small terminal well
- An hour before a domestic departure is normally enough. The check-in cut-off is the fixed point — roughly 45 minutes — and it closes on time whatever the queue is doing.
- Catering hours follow the flight schedule, not the clock. A delayed evening departure can outlast the outlets. Carry something.
- Car hire desks are in the arrivals area, and a car is the usual way to reach the Wild Coast or the rest of the Eastern Cape from here.
- There is no train — the Gautrain is a Gauteng system and serves only O. R. Tambo. Taxi, e-hailing, a hotel shuttle or a hire car.
Common questions
What is the code for East London airport?
ELS is the IATA code and FAEL the ICAO code. The airport is named King Phalo Airport.
Does East London have international flights?
No scheduled international service in 2025/26. Connect through Johannesburg or Cape Town.
What is there to do near East London airport?
The Wild Coast to the north-east, the Amathole mountains and Hogsback inland, and the R72 coastal road south-west towards Port Alfred and Gqeberha.