AIRPORTS Company South Africa (ACSA) will be responsible forhandling 450,000 international arrivals ...

1. South Africa airport industry managing major expansion for
the world cup.
AIRPORTS Company South Africa (ACSA) will be responsible for
handling 450,000 international arrivals when the country hosts the
Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) 2010 World Cup
next summer.
The biggest-ever sporting event on African soil starts on June 11
next year and will run to July 11 with games stretching from the former
township of Soweto in Johannesburg to the natural beauty of Cape Town.
South Africa's airports will have to cope with up to 78,000
passengers and 260 international flights-a-day. Around 75 airline
companies are expected to use the country's airports during the
event, an increase from the current 54 international airlines and seven
domestic carriers. ACSA will also have to respond flexibly to airline
schedule demands at peak times during the 64-game competition.
The most important airport for a successful World Cup will be the
Oliver R. Tambo International (Ortia) in the business capital
Johannesburg, Africa's busiest airport. The leading city of
Johannesburg will host 15 World Cup matches while Cape Town gets nine
games. Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and Durban will each host
eight games in 2010. The distances between domestic venues will mean
that many foreign visitors will use air travel to get to games.
The pressures on air infrastructure and South Africa's

2. state-owned but commercially run airport operator Airports Company South
Africa (ACSA) will dwarf those of recent international sporting events
that the country has hosted, which include the 2009 FIFA Confederations
Cup, IPL Twenty20 cricket and the British and Irish Lions rugby tour.
ACSA has spent six billion rand (US$811 million) in its last
financial year (ending 31 March, 2009) to upgrade and expand handling
capacity for the World Cup, building on 5.2 billion rand spent the
previous year. Most of the expenditure, 2.4 billion rand, was spent on a
new airport development at La Mercy, outside Durban in KwaZulu-Natal
province and at O.R. Tambo (1.8 billion rand) in Gauteng province. An
additional one billion rand was also spent at Cape Town International in
Western Cape Province over the past year.
ACSA is confident it is up to the challenge despite the downturn in
the industry. quot; The expected increased traffic activity, much
needed in the harsh economic times, has provided a focal point for
completion of infrastructural expansion and the provision of world class
service to airport users, quot; said ACSA chairman Franklin Sonn
(NOTE--SPELLING CORRECT).
But the airport investments come despite a drop in passengers and
aircraft using South African airports because of the sharp global
economic downturn.
Passenger traffic numbers at the ACSA network of airports fell 7.7%
during the last year, hurting company profits. The domestic market,

3. which comprises 70% of the total passenger traffic, fell by 10.5%.
ACSA's airports processed 33.3 million passengers in the last year,
a reduction of 2.8 million passengers over the previous period. The
number of aircraft landing fell to 279,545 from 290,696 the previous
year. Johannesburg's airport handled 106,261 landings, Cape Town
47,805 and Durban 25,905. ACSA's annual profits have fallen to
443.8 million rand from 788.9 million rand. ACSA expects passenger
volumes to continue to decline leading up to the World Cup.
quot; Given the current economic climate, capital expenditure
has been reviewed but this has not jeopardised any of the projects
necessary to deliver on our commitment to provide the required
facilities and services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, quot; said
ACSA spokesman Solomon Makgale.
ACSA and airlines have had to improve operational standards since
being awarded the tournament by FIFA in 2004.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) threatened to
downgrade South Africa's category one status in 2007 because of a
lack of industry oversight, as required under international aviation
agreements. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is
responsible for regulating the country's aviation sector, had
consistently struggled to maintain skilled management and suffered from
funding shortfalls.

4. A downgrade would have had severe implications for the World Cup
and the country's economy, prompting the Pretoria government and
the CAA to embark on a major recruitment drive to bring in skilled
personnel. The FAA only officially notified the CAA in October 2008 that
it had maintained its category one status after audits by the FAA and
the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
quot; From our side this means that the entire spectrum of our
air traffic navigation services must meet world standards and be relied
upon time and time again to ensure our skies and airspace is safe and
secure, quot; said transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele (NOTE
SPELLING CORRECT), October 6.
The FAA's concerns came against a backdrop of safety concerns
for air traffic across the African continent. During the period between
1994 and 2004, Africa's accident rate was far greater than the
world average. Africa has 4.5% of the world's total air traffic but
25% of the accidents.
Security at the ACSA's airports has also been a problem with a
series of high profile cargo thefts in recent years and illegal entry
within the airport's perimeter. The repeated arrests of cabin crews
on international flights for drug charges has also damaged the local
industry's reputation. ACSA has introduced structured aviation
security audits at each airport in accordance with national aviation
security regulations.

5. ACSA has also secured new security detection equipment for
passenger screening points at a cost of 38 million rand. The new
terminal at Johannesburg has 650 surveillance cameras in the building
linking international arrival and departures. Cape Town International
Airport has increased passenger security processing capacity with the
addition of a fifth security screening point at the domestic departures
terminal.
A new 2.3 billion rand central terminal building for international
arrivals opened at Ortia in May this year. International arriving
passengers are now being processed in a single new terminal that
consolidates the old terminals A1 and A2. The airport is the transport
hub for the southern African region and handles more than nine million
passengers a year. Ongoing work includes the completion of the
airport's extended international departure lounge and pier,
additional aircraft stands and the passenger terminal for the Gautrain
Rapid Rail designed to link the airport with Johannesburg and Pretoria
city centres. Escalators and lifts from the new terminal to the Gautrain
station are already completed and will be opened for operation once the
Gautrain station building has been completed.
New baggage carousels and baggage systems more than double the
capacity of bags that can be processed at the airport to 8,000 bags an
hour at peak operation. In November 2009, when four additional baggage
carousels will become operational, the number of baggage carousels in
the new arrivals terminal will total 10.

6. Additional bulk fuel storage tanks are being constructed at the
airport and will be commissioned by March 2010 to provide the additional
fuel storage capacity required by the aviation industry to ensure supply
to the airlines. Johannesburg airport has suffered from jet fuel
disruptions this year caused by poor coordination between the airport
authorities, leading local oil refiner Sasol and state-owned fuel
transport firm Transnet.
The country's energy minister had to intervene in
August to
restore jet fuel supplies after stock levels had
fallen below the
minimum level of five days of use. Government has
set up a team in the
wake of the problems for quot; the successful
identification of key
risks and [to] subsequently design a coordinated approach to planning
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. quot; The second most likely airport
to be used by visitors will be Cape Town International Airport (CTIA),
which is also undergoing a facelift. The CTIA is the country's
second largest airport with over four million passengers departing
annually. The airport is undergoing work with the creation of a new
central terminal, a new domestic arrivals terminal and an improved road
layout. The airport has doubled in growth in the last five years, and
the current expansion will accommodate demands forecast for the next 10
years, ACSA says.

7. Departure facilities of the new Cape Town airport building will be
commissioned at the end of October 2009 and the last phase of this
development, due for completion in March 2010, will be the extension to
the existing arrivals terminal with pedestrian connectivity to the
central terminal building. Work on five additional narrow-body aircraft
stands which started in January this year is expected to be completed in
early 2010.
Services at the new 6.8 billion rand La Mercy Airport north of
Durban are expected to start in March 2010 with full operation in May
next year. ACSA says that trade union problems at the site have been
overcome and the schedule for work is back on track. Completion of major
construction is scheduled for December this year. Eventually La Mercy
will take over from Durban International Airport (DIA) which handles
more than 2.3 million passengers a year. La Mercy, when it is complete,
will have the capacity to handle 7.5 million passengers annually. Ten of
the 12 air bridges from Spain have been installed at the new
airport's Alpha Apron. A skid resistance test has been completed on
the 3.7 kilometre runway. Taxiways are on track with shoulder surfacing
and asphalt layering, says ACSA.
Other work includes a 46 million rand terminal expansion and
refurbishment at Bloemfontein airport. A 121 million rand runway
refurbishment and upgrade has also been completed at Bloemfontein which
has connections to Johannesburg and Cape Town. A 68 million rand
refurbishment of Port Elizabeth's international runway was finished

8. in August, 2008. A 98 million rand expansion and upgrade of East
London's airport is expected to be commissioned by the end of this
year. A similar 31 million rand work programme is underway at Upington
airport and a 17 million rand project at Kimberley airport. quot;
Temporary interventionsquot; in air space and air-traffic
operations will also be implemented to accommodate the surge of
international football fans. The South African government has budgeted
8.4 billion rand for new and refurbished stadiums for the event.
TABLE:
South Africa's Top Ten Airports
1. O.R. TAMBO INTERNATIONAL
? Departing passengers--9,045,239
? Arriving air traffic movements--106,261
? Annual passenger handling capacity--23 million passengers
2. CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL
? Departing passengers--3,917,114
? Arriving air traffic movements--47,805

9. ? Annual passenger handling capacity--8.5 million passengers
3. DURBAN INTERNATIONAL
? Departing passengers--2,163,878
? Arriving air traffic movements-
-25,905
? Annual passenger handling capacity-
-4.5 million passengers
4. PORT ELIZABETH
INTERNATIONAL ? Departing
passengers--705,434
? Arriving air traffic movements--34,888
? Annual passenger handling capacity--2 million passengers
5. EAST LONDON
? Departing passengers--347,124
? Arriving air traffic movements--17,421
? Annual passenger handling capacity--700,000 passengers

10. 6. BLOEMFONTEIN INTERNATIONAL
? Departing passengers--205,059
? Arriving air traffic movements--12,634
? Annual passenger handling capacity--360,000 passengers
7. GEORGE
? Departing passengers--302,896
? Arriving air traffic movements--21,647
? Annual passenger handling capacity--800,000 passengers
8. KIMBERLEY
? Departing passengers--75,788
? Arriving air traffic movements--7,615
? Annual passenger handling capacity--140,000 passengers
9. UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL

11. ? Departing passengers--23,647
? Arriving air traffic movements--3,228
? Annual passenger handling capacity--40,000 passengers
10. PILANESBERG INTERNATIONAL
? Departing passengers--4,489
? Arriving air traffic movements--2,381
? Annual passenger handling capacity--40,000 passengers
Source: ACSA
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