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The anticipated opening of the Cape Winelands Airport in 2027 has raised questions about its potential impact on Cape Town International Airport.
However, Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) CEO Mpumi Mpofu says the new airport will not pose a threat to the existing operations of Cape Town International, and that the two airports can coexist and complement each other.
Mpofu was speaking at a media briefing at Acsa’s offices at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday morning.
“We are not the exclusive owners of all the airports in the country,” she said.
“When a perception is created that Acsa will prevent airports with licences from developing because Acsa thinks [doing so is] going to undermine it — it can never be so.”
The Cape Winelands Airport, scheduled to open in 2027, will be located near Durbanville and is set to offer both local and international flights once operational.
“Far be it from Acsa to ever suggest that there must never be another airport. However, the process of determining whether an area needs another airport is based on throughput, catchment area, infrastructure capability and the current operations of an existing airport to determine if a second airport is required,” Mpofu said.
She noted that the Department of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority are the regulatory bodies that identify whether a second airport is required in an area.
Lanseria International Airport, according to its website, was built in 1974 after then Minister of Planning JJ Loots confirmed the need for a new airport.
“We live side by side with Lanseria and we have no problems because Johannesburg long reached the threshold of only one airport operating and the level of congestion at OR Tambo justified a second airport,” said Mpofu. — Moneyweb.
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