With South Africa’s aviation sector recovering from the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, several plans are in place to further boost the sector – with Cape Town International Airport to get a bit of a face lift.
Post-pandemic recovery
During a briefing of the developments in the aviation industry on Tuesday, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga noted that the state of the industry is doing well on both the domestic and international front.
The aviation industry had experience major turbulence when air travel to and from the country halted in 2020. Since then however, Chikunga says the gap on passenger numbers before and post the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming smaller.
“As we look towards concluding the last quarter of 2023/24, data shows us that passenger numbers are just over 16% close to reaching pre-Covid-19 numbers. This is good news because it means that we are close to getting back to the vibrant era of aviation as we know it.”
Safety in the sky
In another part of the briefing, Chikunga looked at the safety of South African civil aviation sector. In an assessment by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), South Africa’s safety oversight system was ranked the best in Africa. It made the top 20 globally, landing alongside Norway.
“I am elated to announce that South Africa performed very well in all these audits and assessments. ICAO rated South Africa’s safety oversight system at 91.11%.”
No other “significant” safety and security concerns were highlighted in their audits by the ICAO.
Chikunga noted a decrease in the other number of aviation-related accidents, the number of fatalities saw a slight increase. At the end of the 2022/23 financial year, 113 accidents were recorded – a drop from the 147 accidents noted in the 2021/22 period.
“The number of fatal accidents has increased to 13, which is four more than data from the 2022/23 financial year. To curb these accidents which happen in a non-scheduled private flying space, the South African Civil Aviation Authority has developed and implemented a General Aviation Safety Strategy.”
Infrastructure plans in Cape Town
Chikunga says the Airports Company South Africa has earmarked R21.7 billion for the refurbishment and improvements of airports across the country. A portion of the total will go to Cape Town International Airport, to address the growing capacity challenges at its domestic arrivals area.
She says the plans include “enlarging the meet and greet area, expansion of the baggage claim area, an additional baggage carousel, expansion of the domestic departures lounge, retail spaces, and ablution facilities, as well as the addition of three new contact gates and fixed boarding bridges”.
There is also plans to realign the runway.
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