King Shaka International Airport — Durban, South Africa

King Shaka International Airport, identified by the code DUR, opened in 2010 at La Mercy north of central Durban, timed deliberately to welcome visitors arriving for that year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The airport replaced Louis Botha Airport, an older facility whose location had become hemmed in by urban development, and took its name from the influential Zulu king credited with unifying numerous chieftaincies into a powerful kingdom in the early nineteenth century. Positioned along South Africa's subtropical KwaZulu-Natal coastline, DUR primarily serves leisure travelers heading to Durban's beaches and the Drakensberg mountains further inland, alongside business passengers connected to the busy Durban harbor, one of the largest shipping ports in the Southern Hemisphere. The terminal's curved roofline references traditional Zulu architectural motifs, and an adjacent cargo and aerotropolis zone supports the surrounding logistics and manufacturing economy.