The Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority has issued a Request for Proposals for consultancy services to update the Master Plan for King Mswati III International Airport.
The initiative signals government’s intention to define a long-term development framework for the country’s primary international gateway, located at Sikhuphe in the Lubombo Region. Commissioned in 2014, the airport was designed to support future passenger and cargo growth and to strengthen Eswatini’s regional connectivity.
According to the tender documentation, the updated Master Plan is intended to provide a phased development framework over a 25 to 30-year horizon. The selected consultant will be required to assess existing infrastructure and operations, conduct passenger, cargo and aircraft movement forecasts, and define future airside and landside capacity requirements.
The scope outlined in the Request for Proposals includes baseline assessments of current facilities, traffic forecasting across short-, medium- and long-term horizons, infrastructure capacity analysis and preliminary development scenarios.
Land use planning, airport safeguarding and integration with surrounding development frameworks form part of the assignment. Environmental and sustainability considerations are also embedded within the Terms of Reference, alongside compliance with applicable ICAO standards and national regulations.
The consultant will further be required to undertake financial and economic analysis, including capital investment phasing, revenue modelling and assessment of potential funding and private sector participation mechanisms.
The issuance of the RFP marks a formal step toward redefining the long-term role of King Mswati III International Airport within Eswatini’s transport and economic framework, as well as within the country’s National Development Plan.
