Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Airport to be a ‘gold mine’ for cargo
BY 2027, transportation of larger cargo airfreight will signal the beginning of a new dawn for exporters in the Western Cape, with fresher produce reaching its destinations in a faster time and will be more cost effective.
This week Exporters Western Cape engaged with the owners of the new airport, Cape Winelands Aero, where ideas were shared, stating they were sitting on a gold mine.
Cape Winelands Aero, situated in Durbanville, said according to their research, cargo capacity would increase significantly due to the closer distance of an alternative airport and would consequently reduce air cargo prices and prices of railway cargo.
It was earlier reported that the new airport will attain soaring heights with an estimated R7 billion expansion programme which will include massive cold storage spaces, vineyards, open spaces and warehouses, making it ideal for air freight and cargo transportation.
By 2027, the Northern District would have given birth to its first domestic and international travel airspace, expected to carry 1.7 million passengers a year, 3.8 million by 2040 and 5.2 million by 2050, and will take 25% of the total of Cape Town International Airport (CTIA).
The airport will have an expanded runway of 3.5 kilometres and the property stretches 900 hectares.
It will boast 2 million international tourists and 3 million domestic travellers a year by 2050, taking overall annual traffic to the region from 10 million to 20 million passengers.
It also aims to be self-sufficient, and to run off the grid for water and electricity by harnessing renewable energy sources such as solar and chicken manure biogas power, to power its facilities and operations.
Terry Gale, chairperson of Exporters Western Cape, who engaged with the owners and staff of Cape Winelands Aero, this week said they were excited at the prospect.
“From an exporter’s perspective this will be a game-changer, particularly with the problems we are having with the port, and you are finding that cargo can move via air freights, but it is a capacity problem to turn cargo from a sea freight to air freight, because sea freight does have bigger and larger parcels. However, if we can have more flights connecting to Cape Town, produce will be fresher and the services will be quicker,” he said.
“If we look at grapes and fresh produce, and we bring in cargo planes, that is what we mean, as Cape Town Airport is more passenger focused.
“But this airport will be focusing more on cargo and passengers where they will have the capacity to handle more cargo than Cape Town and they will have the capacity to work with bigger planes.
“Cape Town International has runway constraints whereas this one will have bigger runway space and that will mean having open surrounding fields and grounds.
“The location will also be ideal because the railway line is very close to the development,” he added.
Cargo can be stored and it can be railed as well, which is again talking about the Green energy.
“We have to look at Green credentials.”
Gale will be part of the Invest in Africa Summit in the Netherlands on April 16 and 17, where he will be focusing on the new airport, including the Culemborg Intermodal Logistics Precinct at the Port of Cape Town.
The summit is set to gather 1 000plus key economic players.