The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has demonstrated — through its upgrade of the George terminal — that its airport facilities meet world-class standards, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.
He was speaking at the opening of the R43-million George Airport upgrade.
”[This] … event… bears testimony to the accelerated implementation of the government’s airports development programme through Acsa,” the minister said.
Passenger traffic at the airport was forecast to reach the one million mark in 2012 from projections of about 670 000 by end of the current financial year.
It was therefore necessary that an infrastructure upgrade be implemented to cope with surging passenger traffic and to ensure that travelling through Acsa’s airports remained a comfortable experience, Radebe added.
”The George Airport may be relatively small but it is growing at a fast pace and acts as an important component in the Acsa network of airports,” he noted.
The new infrastructure would go a long way in assisting the airport to raise its service standards.
George Airport had won the Airport of the Year trophy five times since South African Airways launched the award in 1987.
Radebe explained that the building of the new facility had provided the opportunity to spread the government’s black empowerment programme, with the awarding of the contract to joint venture partners, JJG/Sekati Construction.
”Black economic empowerment participation totalled 34% of the contract value,” he said.
Over the past few years, Acsa had invested over R5-billion to meet the demands of increased traffic and for improved service delivery.
Acsa would be spending R4,8-billion this year as part of its programme of R19,3-billion in the next five years, Radebe said. — Sapa