New aircargo link with Europe and America

Upington feasibility study into turning city into major hub looks certain KEVIN MAYHEW The Northern Cape Provincial government looks set to back a feasibility study that indicates the Upington Airport can be developed into an international cargo hub initially linking Africa with the USA and Europe. The idea is based on the city’s attractiveness for the transhipment of perishables and time-sensitive products like automotive components. It will also seek to develop a general industry base and reconditioning hub based on the Duty Free Zone concept developed in areas such as the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The Upington Growth and Development Forum is undertaking the initiative. It recently convened a meeting of interested parties and the Upington Town Council to present development proposals. This concept was also presented to the head of the South African Chamber of Business’s Transport and Logistics Policy Portfolio, Wayne Bateman, who is already exploring the possibility of promoting a Walvis Bay, Botswana and Zimbabwe corridor with Maputo in Mozambique. “The feasibility study for the air cargo development is likely to get under way in the near future, based on the support from local authorities and private investors who look set to provide some of the funding necessary to complete the study,” Bateman said. He explained that there were a number of perishable exports that could exit from the new facility and that this, combined with the attractiveness of the region as a vehicle prototype test destination of choice for European motor vehicle manufacturers, could provide for a lucrative cargo hub. Referring to the east/west coast corridor, Bateman explained that limitations with the rail carrying capacity between Walvis Bay and Upington would be overcome by creating a consolidation hub in Upington to load up mainly containers for railing to Maputo and vice versa. “This is another aspect that will be put to the Upington Growth and Development Forum which will have to provide for the infrastructure required to link the two transport models,” he concluded.