Rand Airport – Joburg’s first hub of civil aviation

Since it was established  in 1886, the city of Johannesburg has been at the forefront of much of the economic, industrial and infrastructure development in South Africa and the broader African continent. However, there is one notable exception to that general historical and ongoing trend, and that is the development of civil aviation infrastructure. Indeed, it is a curious fact that the first airport was established quite late in Johannesburg's development, with the first airfield opening only in 1929 and the first airport being commissioned in 1931. To put this into South Africa's broader historical context, it was some 20 years after the first flight was undertaken in the country. What is even more curious is that the erection of the airport was not spurred on by the city's own infrastructure development initiatives, but was undertaken at the behest of a British airline that needed a suitable airstrip on which to land in Johannesburg.