Durbanville is about to gain a new neighbour, and a significant one. Just 13km northeast of the town, on the site of the existing Fisantekraal Airfield, construction is set to begin on the Cape Winelands Airport: an R8-billion aviation and commercial precinct that will eventually rank among the largest infrastructure projects in the Western Cape.
For a suburb best known for its wine estates, golf courses and easy reach of the city, it’s a development worth understanding, not just for what it means for regional travel, but for what it means for Durbanville itself over the next few years.
What’s Being Built at Cape Winelands Airport
The Cape Winelands Airport will rise on the footprint of the Fisantekraal Airfield, a general aviation site with roots going back to 1943, when it served as a Lockheed Ventura bomber base for the South African Air Force. The new development will transform that 450-hectare site into a full aviation precinct, built out in phases:
- A runway of roughly 3,500 metres, long enough to accommodate wide-body aircraft
- A boutique passenger terminal
- Cargo and logistics facilities
- A broader commercial precinct surrounding the airport itself
The project cleared a major hurdle in October 2025, when it received environmental authorisation from the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. A handful of appeals followed, but by 2026 all had been withdrawn or dismissed, clearing the way for construction to proceed.
Timeline: What Happens When
Detailed technical design work is underway now, with construction expected to start toward the end of 2026, beginning with runway infrastructure before expanding outward to the terminal and commercial buildings. The current target for commissioning is 2028, putting the airport on track to open within the next few years, not the next decade.
It’s a multi-year build, which means Durbanville and the surrounding Cape Winelands area will be living alongside active construction for some time to come.
Why It’s Being Built Here
The Cape Winelands Airport is designed to work alongside Cape Town International Airport rather than replace it, offering a more direct gateway into the Winelands for tourists, wine-industry logistics, and regional business travel, while easing pressure on the city’s main airport. Its position just north of Durbanville puts it within easy reach of the N1 and the wider Cape Town metro, while sitting at the doorstep of the wine region it’s named for.
The Economic Ripple Effect
Estimates put the project’s economic contribution at R8 billion to R10 billion, with around 35,000 direct and indirect jobs expected during the build itself, and more than 100,000 jobs projected over the airport’s first 20 years of operation once it’s fully running. That kind of project draws in a wide network of contractors, engineers, suppliers and project teams — many of whom will need a base in the area for the duration of the work.
What It Means for Durbanville
Major infrastructure projects tend to reshape the towns around them, and Durbanville is likely to see that first-hand, from increased activity along the N1 corridor to growing interest in the area from businesses and property investors anticipating what a fully operational airport could bring by 2028.
In the meantime, it also means a steady flow of project teams, engineers and site personnel spending extended stretches of time in and around Durbanville over the next couple of years. For anyone finding themselves working on the project long-term, Ruslamere offers comfortable, well-located accommodation just outside town — with the space, quiet, and conferencing facilities that make it a practical base for an extended stay, rather than a one-night stopover.
