Multi-modal Upington hub gains momentum

September deadline for first flights
ALAN PEAT
IT’S JUST a short step before the section 21 company, Northern Cape Airport Development (NCAD) – and its ambitious plan for a multi-modal hub at the international airport at Upington – gets under way. All that it needs is the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the department of public affairs and the company can be legally formed ready to get going under project CEO, Brigitte Weissewange. All the legal aspects are now “almost 100% sure,” according to Wayne Bateman, logistics and transport specialist at the SA Chamber of Business (Sacob) – who is also to be a non-executive director of the new outfit along with PE-based consultant, Kevin Wakeford. The stakeholders in the operation, Bateman told FTW, will be government, private sector business and agricultural interests. The project is aimed at forming the multi-modal hub round the airport, and linking it into the Upington-Cape Town and Upington-Namibia corridors. Primary function of NCAD will be to look after the necessary infrastructure development and co-ordinate with incoming businesses expected to line up service and physical facilities alongside the hub’s airport core. “We have been discussing leasing land in the airport for these businesses with the Airports Company of SA (Acsa),” said Bateman. “Our initial examination also included looking at the cold room technology available in Dubai. As a further step in the corridor link-up, there is also the intention to take a business delegation to Namibia to discuss corridor development with the country’s transport operators, Namport. As far as Sacob is concerned, the project is seen as a means of promoting investment in the Northern Cape, and various business developments are currently under scrutiny, according to Bateman. “We are hoping to get everything ticking, so that we can schedule the first aircraft flights to the Upington airport at about end-September,” said Bateman. “We are currently negotiating with a couple of airlines to establish services.”