SOUTH AFRICAN AIRPORT operator the Airports Company says that the country's premier gateway, Johannesburg International, is managing to cope with increased demand, despite its previous owner leaving it with the legacy of a master plan which lacked any supporting data and no coherent development policy.
Since the final year of apartheid, in 1991, the number of overseas carriers using the airport has increased, from 19 to 56, and passenger numbers had rocketed to 7.5 million in the last financial year. Such is the level of demand now being generated that the company has had to assemble quickly a team of outside consultants to assess needs up until the turn of the century, and generate a meaningful master plan for the airport. At the same time, it is embarking on a substantive construction programme to ensure that it has the equipment needed to accommodate the increased business.
The Airports Company says, that the majority of the work will be landside, where Johannesburg International is pressed for space to accommodate the needs of new carriers, particularly in office and lounge space. Check-in space is also being expanded and equipped with common user-equipment terminals for better utilisation. By the middle of the year, the company intends having ten new remote hardstands ready for use on the airside of the airport, which it hopes will ease pressure on the ramp, and it is talking of opening a second arrivals hall.
The company intends spending R600 million ($153 million) on the facelift over the next five years, money which, controversially, has been generated from a substantial rise in charges levied against carriers using the airport. Traditionally, Johannesburg has been an inexpensive destination for overseas airlines and, initially, the price increase was not welcomed with open arms. The Airports Company has since given assurances to carriers that rates will henceforth only increase in line with inflation.
Source: Flight International
