Airport firms ready for court
OPERATORS at Virginia Airport have given the eThekwini Municipality an ultimatum: “Reason with us or we will meet you in court.”
The operators had a meeting with the municipality at the city hall three weeks ago. Also attending was Royal Dutch Haskoning DHV, the firm of consultants who did a feasibility study on the airport, which was presented to the operators at the meeting.
Daryl Mann, speaking for the operators, said he told Royal Dutch Haskoning DHV that its recommendation was “useless and unusable and we need to start again”.
Mann said communication between the city and the operators broke down after the former deputy city manager for economic development, Dr Naledi Moyo, left the municipality. He said city manager S’bu Sithole announced that acting economic development deputy city manager Musa Mbhele would now liaise with them.
“If they’re thinking of moving… the first thing you need to do is ask us operators. I have for the past 30 years been offering my services free of charge. They haven’t accepted that. They’ve always used outside companies who know nothing about general aviation or the geography of this area,” he said. Operators used Virginia airport “for convenience”, and would not drive for an hour to Scottburgh.
“They just won’t do it. They will sell their aeroplanes and general aviation will die.”
It was unclear who would foot the bill for the move to Scottburgh, and whether the property was available for sale.
He said four feasibility studies had been conducted on the airport over the past three decades – including that by Royal Haskoning.
Sensible
“The number one option was: stay where you are (Virginia); number two: move to Durban International Airport; number three: Cato Ridge. Those studies never considered moving out of greater Durban,” he said.
The only “sensible and workable” solution operators would consider would be to move to King Shaka International, if a second runway could be built there.
In December last year, members of the municipality’s executive committee, excluding the DA, agreed with the recommendation by Royal Dutch Haskoning that the airport move to Scottburgh. The matter now waits to go to the full council.
The findings of the feasibility study were presented by Mbhele. It considered seven alternatives including Dube TradePort, Pietermaritzburg, Scottburgh, Margate, Finningley (a planned development on the South Coast), the Lion Park near Pietermaritzburg, and Darnall, near Stanger.
Mbhele said that apart from Scottburgh being outside eThekwini, its infrastructure development, land costs and the environmental impact assessment process meant the site was the most viable.
He confirmed that the city had held a meeting with the operators and the consultants.
He said the city engaged with the operators to reopen lines of communication.
Asked what would be the next step, Mbhele said: “We have got a council resolution that is basically approving the relocation.”
He said, however, a feasibility study on the Scottburgh land was outstanding. The study would be conducted in conjunction with the Umdoni Municipality and the provincial Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and their Economic Development and Tourism counterparts.
“Umdoni will be consulted – they have yet to be formally consulted because we have not been to council where the municipality will take a resolution. We have informally engaged them”