GM adds its voice to calls for PE airport upgrade

ED RICHARDSON THERE HAVE been renewed calls for the lengthening of the runway at the Port Elizabeth airport. Ian Nichols, a director of General Motors SA, told the recent Made in South Africa automotive conference “customers now demand specification changes to new vehicles even as they roll down the assembly line. We need to be able to ship parts very quickly and that means using air transport. We desperately need a bigger runway in this region to take larger cargo aircraft.” Cargo facilities at Johannesburg airport were overcrowded and inefficient leading to delays and ultimately production-line stoppages, he said. “Our shipping ports have also been hampered in the past by labour problems, delays and security issues. We cannot afford to operate like this,” added Nicholls. “GM has 32 car factories around the world and we have to compete with all of them for contracts. Our parent does not give us business out of sympathy.” The Port Elizabeth municipality gave the Airports Company of South Africa the land it needs to extend the runway over four years ago. ACSA has said that it will extend the runway when it is guaranteed traffic by local business, including the automotive industry.