{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Use South African English|date=June 2019}} {{Infobox airport | name = Air Force Base Hoedspruit / Eastgate Airport | nativename = | nativename-a = | nativename-r = | image = | image-width = | caption = | IATA = HDS | ICAO = FAHS | type = Military and civil | owner = Department of Defence | operator = South African Air Force | city-served = | location = Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa | metric-elev = y | elevation-m = 531 | coordinates = {{coord|24|21|17|S|31|03|01|E|region:ZA-LP|display=inline,title}} | image_map = | image_mapsize = | image_map_alt = | image_map_caption = | pushpin_map = South Africa Limpopo | pushpin_label = FAHS | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_image = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Limpopo | metric-rwy = y | r1-number = 09/27 | r1-length-m = 2,115 | r1-surface = Asphalt | r2-number = 18/36 | r2-length-m = 3,991 | r2-surface = Asphalt | stat-year = 2008-2009 | stat1-header = Passengers | stat1-data = 57 000 | website = {{URL|http://www.eastgateairport.co.za}} | footnotes = Sources: WAD,<ref name="WAD">{{cite web|url-status=usurped|url=http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=FAHS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305143444/http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=FAHS|archive-date=2019-03-05|title=Airport information for FAHS|website=World Aero Data}} Data current as of October 2006.</ref> GCM,<ref name="GCM">{{GCM|FAHS}}</ref> STV<ref name="STV">{{Transport Search link|6296898|AFB Hoedspruit}}</ref> }}

thumb | right | alt=Hoedspruit Air Force Base, South Africa | Hoedspruit Air Force Base, South Africa '''Air Force Base Hoedspruit''' {{Airport codes|HDS|FAHS}} is an airbase of the South African Air Force. 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. It was also an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/sts-els.htm|title= Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Sites|publisher=globalsecurity.org}}</ref>

==Units hosted==

* 19 Squadron - Helicopter squadron * 101 Squadron - Light transport (reserve) * 514 Squadron - Security services * 7 Aircraft Servicing Unit - Maintenance support * Lowveld Airspace Control Sector - Airspace control * Air Force Command and Control School - Training

==History==

The base was officially opened on 1 July 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rsa/hoedspruit.htm |title=AFB Hoedspruit|publisher=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> It was designed from the start to be a highly protected wartime base. As such, it has armoured and Hardened Aircraft Shelters, with revetments placed close to the runways for aircraft on immediate take-off standby duty.

The base is teeming with wildlife, being surrounded by the 25&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> AFB Hoedspruit Game Reserve. Keeping the runway clear of animals was a massive problem. This led the base to introduce three cheetahs on the airfield, with the end result that animal incursions onto the runway have decreased by 90%. Another SAAF base, AFB Makhado, has since also adopted this concept.

The base gained international media attention in 2000, when it hosted the United States Air Force's rescue contingent as part of Operation Atlas Response, the mission to provide rescue and humanitarian support to areas of Mozambique devastated by the severe flooding caused by Cyclone Eline.

The base motto is ''Pro Nostrorum Pace'' (Peace for our People).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/bases/3/air-force-base-hoedspruit |title=Air Force Base Hoedspruit |work=South African Air Force |year=2014 |access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref>

==Eastgate Airport== A civil airport terminal, known as the Eastgate Airport, was established at the southern end of the airfield in the early 1990s. The terminal's main business is serving tourists visiting private game reserves in the area as well as access to the Kruger National Park via the nearby Orpen Gate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ldrt.gov.za/wp-content/Limpopo_Databank/airfreight/1/index.html |title=Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport website |access-date=2012-02-04 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804135326/http://www.ldrt.gov.za/wp-content/Limpopo_Databank/airfreight/1/index.html |archive-date=2012-08-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Facilities at the terminal include car hire<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avis.co.uk/CarHire/Africa/South-Africa/Hoedspruit/Hoedspruit-Eastgate-Airport |title=Avis - Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport}}</ref> and foreign exchange.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastgateairport.co.za/facilities/banking/ |title=Eastgate Airport - Facilities - Banking}}</ref>

Charter flights are offered by Federal Air, Genair, Cesszani, Execujet, SA Historical Flight and Bataleur.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastgateairport.co.za/flight-information/private-charters/ |title=Private charters |access-date=4 February 2012 |archive-date=9 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309205822/http://www.eastgateairport.co.za/flight-information/private-charters/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Airlines and destinations== <!-- Please use only independent sources. The airport and airline itself are not independent sources. --> {{airport-dest-list |Airlink | Cape Town, Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flyairlink.com/destinations/flights-to-hoedspruit|title = FlyAirlink &#124; Airlink Flight Deals to Hoedspruit from ZAR 1,400}}</ref> |CemAir | Cape Town, Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flycemair.co.za/destinations_r/dest_hoedspruit.php |title=CemAir / Hoedspruit |publisher=Flycemair.co.za |date= |accessdate=2021-08-16}}</ref> George (Launches 16 May 2026)<ref>{{cite web |title=CemAir launches direct route between George and Hoedspruit |url=https://www.cemair.co.za/George_and_Hoedspruit_press_release.html |website=CemAir |publisher=CemAir (Pty) Ltd |date=6 November 2024 |access-date=12 November 2025}}</ref> |FlySafair | Cape Town<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atta.travel/resource/flysafair-launches-new-cape-town-hoedspruit-route.html|title=FlySafair Launches New Cape Town–Hoedspruit Route|access-date=11 July 2025}}</ref> }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web |title=Air Force Base Hoedspruit |url=https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/bases/3/air-force-base-hoedspruit |website=Unofficial South African Air Force website}} *[http://www.manyeleti.com/hoedspruit-airport-manyeleti.html Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport on Manyeleti Game Reserve website] *[https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=AFB+Hoedspruit,+Maruleng+Rural,+Zuid-Afrika&sll=-29.969806,30.949001&sspn=114.428213,270&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FZxxjP4dORTYAQ&split=0&t=k&ll=-24.358435,31.048307&spn=0.068651,0.131836&z=14&iwloc=A AFB Hoedspruit on Google maps]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoedspruit}} Category:South African Air Force bases Category:Airports in South Africa Category:Transport in Limpopo Category:Mopani District Municipality Category:Military airbases established in 1978