| AFB Bloemspruit
Air Force Base Bloemspruit (AFB BSPT) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Bloemspruit (LMB BSPT)] (IATA: BFN, ICAO: FABL) was established outside Bloemfontein, where it was (and still is) co-located with the Bloemfontein Airport, sharing the runway. It was the home of 8 Squadron which used Impala MkII strike aircraft used in the ground attack role. |
| AFB Durban
Air Force Base Durban (AFB DBN) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Durban (LMB DBN)] was established outside Durban, at the Durban International Airport. Air Force Station Durban was officially re-named Air Force Base Durban on 1 April 1980. It was home to 15 Squadron with its primary role of maritime and landward search and rescue. It also hosted 105 Squadron, the Citizen Force liaison and crime prevention patrol squadron, which was a Reserve squadron operating various civil light aircraft by mostly civilian pilots. |
| AFB Grootfontein
Air Force Base Grootfontein (AFB GFTN) ]Afr: Lugmagbasis Grootfontein (LMB GFTN)] (IATA: GFY, ICAO: FYGF) was an air base for the South African Air Force, in Grootfontein, a city in the Otjozondjupa Region of SWA/Namibia. The air base is about 4 km (2 mi) south of the center of Grootfontein.The Airfield can handle aircraft up to the C-141 in size. It has two asphalt runways: the first is 3,560 by 45 meters and the second is 1,200 by 30 meters. Five concrete and asphalt parking aprons have a total area of 137,000 square meters. The field has a control tower and separate civilian and military terminals. It is connected to the nearby military base and to SWA's road and rail network by a two-lane bituminous highway and a single-track rail spur. |
| AFB Hoedspruit
Air Force Base Hoedspruit (AFB HSPT) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Hoedspruit (LMB HSPT)] (IATA: HDS, ICAO: FAHS) is an airbase of the South African Air Force and was officially opened on 1 July 1978 by the then Minister of Defence, Minister P.W. Botha. It is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park. In the late 1990s an unused portion of the base was converted into a civilian airport known as Eastgate Airport. The 5 375 ha base was officially opened on 1 July 1978. It was designed from the start to be a highly protected wartime base. As such, it has armoured and underground hangars, with revetments placed close to the runways for aircraft on immediate take-off standby duty. |
| AFB Langebaanweg
Air Force Base Langebaanweg (AFB LBWG) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Langebaanweg (LMB LBWG)] (FALW) was planned and constructed in 1942 at Langebaanweg, just about an hour's drive north from Cape Town. The first aircraft, an Anson, arrived in February 1946. In 1992, the Central Flying School was moved here from Dunnotar. The base was renamed from CFS Langebaanweg to AFB Langebaanweg in 2001. It was used to host visiting squadrons on air/air and air/ground exercises. |
| AFB Louis Trichardt (AFB Makhado)
Air Force Base Makhado (ICAO: FALM), formerly Air Force Base Louis Trichardt (AFB LT) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Louis Trichardt (LMB LT)] (FALT), is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is the SAAF's northernmost base, situated at Louis Trichardt near the border with Zimbabwe. The 4 032 ha base was officially opened on 14 October 1987 as AFB Louis Trichardt, but changed its name to match that of the nearby town on 7 November 2003. |
| AFB Mpacha
Air Force Base Mpacha (AFB MP) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Mpacha (LMB MP)] was established near Katima Mulilo in the eastern Caprivi as one of a number of operational air force bases in Sector 70 of the then South West Africa Command. It became a permanent base for a flight of Impala MkII fighters and Allouette and Puma helicopters. These were redeployed to AFB Ondangwa and AFB Rundu for operational requirements as needed. |
| AFB Ondangwa
Air Force Base 0ndangwa (AFB OA) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Ondangwa (LMB OA)] was initially established at the Ondangwa Airfield on 2 February 1972, under the name "Playboy". The only military presence at that time in the area was at Oshakati, which fell under 1 Military Area in northern SWA. It soon became the most important air base in the Operational Area. On 1 March 1976, the base was upgraded and renamed 95 Tactical Airfielld Unit. It formed part of the SAAF's Western Air Command and served in support of the counterinsurgency campaign in SWA and the ground forces operating in the Operational Area and Angola. On 1 January 1982, after further upgrades, it was given Base status and renamed Air Force Base Ondangwa. |
| AFB Overberg
Air Force Base Overberg (FAQB) became operational as TFDC Bredasdorp in 1987. As the Test Flight and Development Centre, it was located next to the Armscor Overberg Test Range (OTB) and de Hoop Missile Test Range The base was declared an Air Force Base in 2004 and the Test Flight and Development Centre became a lodger unit with 525 Squadron. |
| AFB Pietersburg
Air Force Base Pietersburg (AFB PTBG) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Pietersburg (LMB PTBG)] had been used by 26 Air School which was disbanded in December 1944. The Air Operational School which had been based at AFB Langebaanweg was moved to AFB Pietersburg in 1967 and renamed the Advanced Flying School. In 1971, 1 Squadron's Canadair Sabre 6 jet fighters were based there. 89 Combat Flying School was established at Air Force Base Pietersburg on 1 Jul 1986, in anticipation of the first delivery of the Cheetah D aircraft. The Base was closed down in 1993. |
| AFB Port Elizabeth
Air Force Base Port Elizabeth (AFB PE) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Port Elizabeth (LMB PE)] is a South African Air Force Base situated on the north-eastern side of the Port Elizabeth Airport main runway. It was downgraded from an Air Force Base to an Air force Station in the early 1990s |
| AFB Potchefstroom
Air Force Base Potchefstroom (AFB POTCH) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Potchefstroom (LMB POTCH)] Was established at Potcheafstroom on 2 January 1974. |
| AFB Rooikop
Air Force Base Rooikop (AFB RKP) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Rooikop (LMB RKP)] was established in 1962 - much of the construction was carried out by the SAAF's 400 Airfield Maintenance Unit. It became Air Force Base Rooikop in April 1981. It fell functionally and administatively under Southern Air Command and served as a support unit for coastal and martime operations. It was closed shortly before Walvis Bay was returned to Namibia in 1994. It is now the Walvis Bay Airport, serving Walvis Bay, a town in the Erongo Region of Namibia. |
| AFB Rundu
Air Force Base Rundu (AFB RU) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Rundu (LMB RU)] was established at Rundu in the Kavango as one of a number of operational air force bases in Sector 20 of the then South West Africa Command. Originally known as AFB Runtu, the spelling was later changed to Rundu. 70 Mobile Radar Group deployed a radar station to AFB Rundu after 1983. Dr. Savimbi of UNITA was often flown to Pretoria from here for discussions and played a major role in the Border War. |
| AFB Swartkop
Air Force Base Swartkop (AFB SWKP) ]Afr: Lugmagbasis Swartkop (LMB SWKP)] (FASK) was established as AFS Zwartkop in April 1921 and was South Africa's first air force base. The name was officially changed to 'Swartkop' in 1949. It is home to the SAAF Museum which occupies the northern side of the base, with the active SAAF units on the southern end of the base, on the western side of the main (tar) runway. The SAAF Memorial is located on Bays Hill, on the northern side of the Base. |
| AFB Waterkloof
Air Force Base Waterkloof (AFB WKLF) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Waterkloof (LMB WKLF)] (FAWK) was first opened in 1938 as Waterkloof Air Station just south of Pretoria, primarily as a practiced forced landing field, secondary to AFB Swartkop. The base was upgraded between 1952 and 1956 after it was decided to construct tarred runways for the new generation of jet fighters. Due to the fast expansion of the SAAF of the 1960's and 1970's, it became the foremost airbase of the time. |
| AFB Ysterplaat
Air Force Base Ysterplaat (AFB YPLT) [Afr: Lugmagbasis Ysterplaat (LMB YPLT)] (FAYP) is situated near Cape Town, this small base was built in the 1920's. It is not to a certain extent precisely known when aviators started using Ysterplaat as a landing field but it eventually became known as Air Force Station Brooklyn. In 1947, the Base became known as Air Force Station Ysterplaat and became the new home base for the Air Navigators School in 1953. The current AFB Ysterplaat was officially founded on 1 February 1968, after the railways laid down their ownership of the land on which the base is situated. |
| AFS Dunnottar
Central Flying School Dunnottar was originally formed as the wartime training centre at AFS Nigel (renamed Dunnottar in 1949) with Harvards, Oxfords and Tiger Moths. It was the base for Central Flying School which trained both pupil pilots and instructors. In February 1968 the School changed its name to Flying Training School Dunnottar, but reverted back to its CFS title in January 1977. The CFS moved to Langebaanweg in December 1991, still equipped with Harvards, and AFS Dunnotar was henceforth no longer in use as an Air Force Station. |
| AFS Snake Valley
During WW2 15 Air Depot was housed in no. 3 Hangar at Zwartkop Air Station. The area in front of the hangar became very congested and plans were made to develop the largely unused eastern side of the aerodrome as a new site for the unit. This area, known unofficially as "Puff Adder Valley" (hence its later name) was the site of the Mobile Air Force Depot When AFS Swartkop was upgraded to AFB status in 1968, the 15AD site was renamed Air Force Station Snake Valley (AFS SNAKE) [Afr: Lugmagstasie Snake Valley (LMS SNAKE)]. AFS Snake Valley disbanded in March 1991 and was absorbed into AFB Swartkop, becoming Swartkop East. |
| AFS Voortrekker-hoogte
Air Force Station Voortrekkerhoogte (AFS VTH) [Afr: Lugmagstasie Voortrekkerhoogte (LMS VTH)] was originally established in 1942 under the control of the Officer Commanding 1 Air Depot, until it became a self-accounting unit with its own commanding officer in 1963. Up to then even the Air Force Headquarters and the Air Force Gymnasium fell under AFS Voortrekkerhoogte for administrative purposes. Its purpose was to provide base-facilities to SAAF-units in the Voortrekkerhoogte military complex and other outside divisions. LMS VTH fell under the functional command of the Air Logistics Command and was responsible for providing administration and facilities to units such as 1 Air Depot, 10 Air Depot, Air Publications Depot, Air Log Command, 501 Squadron, SAAF Accounts, and part of the Directorate of Commodities and Services. |
| Omega Airfield
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