The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos and the Western Cape Economic Opportunities MEC Beverly Schafer today, 4 April 2019, went on a site visit to the Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) to touch base on future upgrades.
The visit comes off the back of the Cape Town International Airport receiving the Best Airport in Africa Award at the 2019 Skytrax World Airports Awards last week. This year marks the fourth year running that CTIA has won this prestigious award.
‘I would like to congratulate the Chief Executive Officer of the airport, Deon Cloete, and his team on their fine achievement for the fourth year in a row. You have developed a winning formula that is being recognised globally for service excellence in the industry,’ said Alderman Vos.
The objective of today’s visit was to gain first-hand knowledge about what the highly anticipated airport upgrade project entails. The walkabout included a tour of the facility and a meeting with key staff members.
‘Airport City contributed R4,7 billion to South Africa’s economy. It made a R2 billion contribution to the Income of South African and Cape Town workers and supported 43 608 direct an, indirect jobs in South Africa,’ said Alderman James Vos.
The airport has several key infrastructure projects planned over the next five years.
These upgrades will see a R7 billion investment over this period and will include:
- The refurbishment of the domestic arrivals terminal
- The expansion of the international terminal
- A new realigned runway worth R3,93 billion which will achieve the runway realignment that will in the future allow for the expansion of the terminals
- The new runway will allow the airport to increase its per hour landing and departures from 30 to 45 aircraft movements
- It will allow the airport to handle the new generation large aircraft such as the Boeing 747-800 or the A380 aircrafts
It will ultimately facilitate greater air access into Cape Town and the Western Cape which is something that the City has been lobbying extensively on as it will enable growth of passenger and cargo traffic that is essential for tourism and economic activity.
‘This project will unlock the full potential of our aviation economy by connecting Cape Town with many more countries resulting in additional trade and investment opportunities. It will drive demand that makes business sense.
‘Tourism is one of the economic engine rooms of this province and it is responsible for the creation of thousands of jobs both in the city and in the province's rural areas. The new airport development project will contribute towards growing this important sector through increased connectivity and tourist numbers. It will also improve on the world-class and award-winning offering that visitors already receive when they travel through Cape Town International Airport,’ said the Western Cape Economic Opportunities, MEC Beverly Schafer.
‘The airport has seen constant growth over the past few years and this has placed immense pressure on the system, hence the expansion programme that is being implemented. Despite the challenges we are facing, we are still being recognised for our efforts.
‘We remain committed to delivering a quality service and ensuring that the passenger experience at the airport is always hassle-free. We recognise that we are a part of an award-winning value chain within the city and that we play a very serious role as a key touch point in Cape Town,’ said Cloete.
The Cape Town Air Access is a partnership between the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Airports Company South Africa, Cape Town Tourism, South African Tourism, Wesgro and private sector partners.
To highlight a few of its successes since its launch in 2015:
- Landing 13 new routes
- Facilitating 18 route expansions
- Doubling the international seat capacity by 1,5 million seats, which in turn helped the airport reach the 10,7 million passenger mark in 2017
- Growing international passenger numbers by 20% in 2017, reaching a total of 2,4 million
