ALAN PEAT IT IS time the private sector freight industry put some of its grand words into practice if any of the ambitious plans for Upington International Airport as an airfreight transit hub are ever going to become reality, according to airport manager Esmeralda Barnes of the Airports Company of SA (Acsa). The promises presented by an Upington air hub were first highlighted in an in-depth feasibility study by Cargo Connections chairman, Gerd von Mansberg – who saw the potential for 780 flights a year, the immediate creation of 72 full-time jobs, and the use of Upington airport generating over R104-million a year into the economy. It was later announced by the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI) – at the time the major force behind the Section 21 (non-profit) development company for the airport – that the skeleton of a multi-modal hub was growing up and putting on flesh. The aim of this was to create a multi-modal corridor network linking Upington with Walvis Bay and Luderitz in Namibia, and Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Gauteng on the domestic front. Landside, road and rail links were negotiated, and discussions held with major European air cargo operators like Cargolux of Luxembourg, Lufthansa Cargo of Germany and Dutch cargo airline, Martinair. Identified as airfreight products from the region were fish from Luderitz and Walvis Bay in Namibia; mutton/goat from Windhoek in Namibia and the Northern Cape region; fruit from the Western Cape and locally; and automotive components from Port Elizabeth. Enough traffic, the NOCCI said at the time, to justify eight freighter flights a week at Upington International. But Barnes told FTW, these glorious promises now seem to have faded into thin air, and Acsa is left with a fully-fledged international airport and little potential custom. “What needs to happen,” she said, “is that forwarders start to focus on Upington, and persuade the business sector to get the perishables and motor industry products moving through this airport.” As part of its service provider function, Acsa has about 700-hectares earmarked for cargo operations, and is busy developing this area and the airport’s existing storage areas. But Barnes has disappointedly budgeted for Upington Airport to run at a R2.1-million loss this year – and has had her ideas cut out in trying to find other sources of income for the facility. One of these is an aircraft “mothballing” project, similar to the huge aircraft “park” in Arizona in the US. Climatic conditions are right at Upington, Barnes added, with clear, dry skies all year and a low-corrosion atmosphere. “Perfect for safe, long-term storage of old aircraft,” she said, “with four aircraft already using the facility, and tons of space for further aircraft parking.” But, if Upington is ever to be an airfreight hub, Barnes suggested that business would have to urgently convert its words of promise into action.
