The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has officially kick-started the construction of its largest facility to date — the R2-billion new central terminal building (CTB) project at the Johannesburg International airport (JIA).
The project was officially announced by Acsa CEO Monhla Hlahla at a sod-turning ceremony on Friday.
“This project is vital for the 2010 World Cup, facilitation of the growing passenger traffic [and] improvement of service. It gives us an opportunity to further transform Johannesburg International into a world class airport. The CTB is indeed a major step towards achieving that,” said Hlahla.
The project is part of the R5,2-billion infrastructure development budget for the Acsa network of airports. Of this budget, R3,5-billion will be spent at the JIA.
The new terminal, which will link the existing domestic and international terminals, will also serve as one of the stations on the Gautrain route. The completion date for the construction of the CTB was accelerated to the end of 2009 after South Africa was named as the host of the 2010 World Cup.
Plans were immediately put in place to prepare the country’s airports in time for the tournament, Acsa said.
Another factor which contributed to the accelerated development is the new-generation large aircraft, such as the A380.
“While the completion of the CTB is significant for obvious reasons, it will also make a large contribution to black economic empowerment. In fact, of the total project cost, 35% will go to black shareholders. We hope that this will have a broader impact on the upliftment of the previously disadvantaged communities,” said Hlahla. – I-Net Bridge