#1 CLOSEST OPTIONUTT
K. D. Matanzima Airport
Serves Mthatha · Eastern Cape · ICAO FAUT
Straight-line distance
12 km
(11.5 km exact)
Passenger flights · check dates
Eastern Cape-31.5889° S, 28.7844° E
Airports near Mthatha
Mthatha lies along the Mthatha River on the N2 plateau of the eastern Eastern Cape, with K. D. Matanzima Airport (UTT) located 12 km away by straight line. For most trips to Mthatha, UTT is the immediate commercial arrival point to check first.
#1 CLOSEST IN PASSENGER COMPARISON
K. D. Matanzima Airport (UTT)
Eastern CapeREVIEWED PASSENGER COMPARISON
Three closest passenger airports to Mthatha
Ordered by unrounded Haversine distance from the Mthatha reference coordinate (-31.5889° S, 28.7844° E) and displayed to the nearest integer kilometer.
#2 ALTERNATIVEELS
King Phalo Airport
Serves East London · Eastern Cape · ICAO FAEL
Straight-line distance
184 km
(184.4 km exact)
Passenger flights · check dates
#3 ALTERNATIVEPZB
Pietermaritzburg Airport
Serves Pietermaritzburg · KwaZulu-Natal · ICAO FAPM
Straight-line distance
265 km
(265.3 km exact)
Passenger flights · check dates
Comparing UTT (12 km) with regional alternatives
K. D. Matanzima Airport (UTT) is the local passenger airport for Mthatha, positioned 12 km in a straight line from the city’s mapped reference coordinate. Confirm live flights for your travel date before booking, as airline schedules at regional and domestic terminals vary by day of the week.
Because UTT is only 12 km from the Mthatha reference coordinate, the second and third airports shown above—King Phalo Airport (ELS) at 184 km and Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB) at 265 km—sit 173 km or more farther away in other districts and are only relevant if your itinerary combines multiple regions.
Onward road connections and regional stops near Mthatha
Mthatha is the administrative and commercial centre of the King Sabata Dalindyebo and OR Tambo districts in the former Transkei region, home to the Nelson Mandela Museum and the main inland junction for trips to Coffee Bay and Port St Johns.
For the onward drive between UTT and Mthatha, travellers typically use the R61 west of town to the local terminal or the N2 southwest toward East London. If your itinerary also covers nearby towns in the region, compare the airport distance profiles for Kokstad, Margate, East London.
GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE
Mthatha, on the map
Distances on this page use one GeoNames reference point for Mthatha, rather than a wider municipal boundary or your accommodation address.
- Place name
- Mthatha
- Recorded aliases
- UTT, Umtata, umutata, wu mu ta ta
- Province
- Eastern Cape (ZA-EC)
- GeoNames ID
- 946058
- Reference coordinates
- -31.5889° S, 28.7844° E
- Terrain elevation (DEM)
- 694 m
- Timezone
- Africa/Johannesburg
- Map link
- Open in Google Maps ↗
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Compare related South African cities
Compare straight-line airport access for other South African towns and cities in our dataset.
PROVENANCE & VERIFICATION
Updated & sources
Dataset snapshot: 2026-11-06 · GeoNames record modified: 2026-11-06 · Editorial review: 2026-11-06
- GeoNames record 946058 — Mthatha ↗ (snapshot 2026-11-06)
- OurAirports — South Africa airport records ↗ (snapshot 2026-11-06)
- OurAirports — K. D. Matanzima Airport (FAUT) ↗ (closest passenger comparison airport record)
- Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency (ECPTA) ↗ (regional tourism and destination reference for Eastern Cape)
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) — Source file ↗