An airport transfer with a difference …

The project cargo move of a lifetime. That was the relocation of equipment and materials from the Durban International Airport (DIA) to their new home at the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) for its May 1 opening. It required the same project management and pre-planning as any other industrial move, but “it’s only once in a blue moon” that you can get involved in the unique movement of an entire airport, according to Russell Chappé of Focus Project Management, the consultancy appointed do the planning and execution of the relocation. And it had another feature that made it unique, said Bongiwe Pityi, the assistant GM of the KSIA tasked to lead the “Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT)” team. It was recorded as the first time in the history of airport relocations, she told FTW, when the airport operator – Airports Company of SA(Acsa) – committed itself to pay the relocation costs of the furniture, fixtures, documentation and equipment belonging to all the aeronautical stakeholders like the airlines and ground handling operations. Another unusual feature in the move, according to Bruce Lovemore of Lovemore Bros – a main player in the relocation and removals team – was the short six-hour “window of convenience” when the final movements had to be conducted successfully. This was the short space of time between DIA receiving its last passenger flight on the evening of April 30, and KSIA’s official opening for operations in the early hours of May 1. This final burst of activity saw a specialised team of officers, vehicles and air support led by Commander Sewpersad of the Metro Police escorting and managing the convoys transporting the final, critical airside equipment. “The airport transfer and relocation work-stream was one of the critical core elements of the ORAT process,” said Lovemore. “When a matter of hours or minutes can influence the entire success of such a project, you have to operate like an efficient machine conducting the operation. Chappé of Focus Project Management agreed. “The project was a complete team effort,” he said, “involving every single stakeholder linked to the airport operation.” The record of the entire relocation exercise speaks for itself, he added. Over the one-month relocation period, over 800 relocation activities were performed. An estimated total of 367 000-cubic feet of inventory was moved. This was made possible by approximately 9 400-man hours and 2 400-vehicle hours contributed by eight forwarding companies, 22 new furniture companies and 10 equipment installers. Over 1 000 car rental vehicles were moved, consuming over 1 600-hours of driving time.