O.R. Tambo International Airport
Facts on JNB
Johannesburg's airport has been renamed twice since it opened in 1953 -- first from Jan Smuts International to Johannesburg International in 1994, then to O.R. Tambo International in 2006 to honor anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo -- yet its IATA code has always stayed JNB.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport is named for Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), who co-founded the ANC Youth League with Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu in 1944, then led the African National Congress as its president from 1967 to 1991, directing a three-decade 'Mission in Exile' from London that mobilized international opposition to apartheid.
Source: Wikipedia
Because the airport's identity code was locked in decades before its current name, JNB doesn't spell out 'O.R. Tambo' or even obviously match a current name at all -- a reminder that airport codes, once assigned, are almost never changed even as the buildings around them are renamed for new heroes.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport was founded in 1952 as Jan Smuts International, built on an expropriated 3,706-acre dairy farm near Kempton Park; it became operational on 1 September 1953 and was officially opened a month later by Transport Minister Paul Sauer, after eight years of planning and construction costing £6.2 million.
Source: Wikipedia
In the 1970s, the airport was used to test how Concorde performed during 'hot and high' takeoffs and landings, exploiting Johannesburg's high elevation and warm climate to evaluate the supersonic jet's capabilities.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport's ICAO code changed from FAJS to FAOR on 10 January 2013, but its IATA code has remained JNB since the airport opened in 1953 -- through two name changes and one code-system switch, JNB alone never moved.
Source: Wikipedia
To support South African Airways' new Boeing 747s arriving from 1971, the airport built hangars 73.2 meters wide, 24.4 meters high and 91.4 meters deep, each able to fit two 747s -- a project that, with related upgrades, ultimately cost R40,000,000.
Source: Wikipedia
During the 1980s, international sanctions against apartheid South Africa led many airlines to stop flying to Johannesburg, and South African Airways was barred from overflying most African countries, forcing it to fly specially modified, long-range Boeing 747SPs around the 'bulge' of Africa instead.
Source: Wikipedia
Since 2020, O.R. Tambo International has been Africa's second-busiest airport, with capacity to handle up to 28 million passengers a year as the hub for South African Airways.
Source: Wikipedia
A 1993 upgrade costing R120,000,000 added an 880-meter, two-level steel airside corridor with thirteen passenger bridges connecting departure lounges to the terminal.
Source: Wikipedia