New CT runway close to getting the 'green light'

It’s all systems go for the
development of a new
runway at the Cape Town
International Airport with
environmental studies just
about complete.
According to Deon Cloete,
general manager for the
airport, there are currently
two runways but only one is
predominantly used.
He said a new runway
would significantly increase
the capacity of the airport.
“The runway project is
probably one of the biggest
and most important projects
for the airport,” he told
FTW. “It will give us the
capability to accommodate
the new A380.”
Cloete said more than
this the new runway would
also allow the airport to step
up its hourly capacity. “We
currently do 30 flights in
and out per hour. With the
new runway we can step that
up to 45. That new capacity
will allow us to offer more
slots to airways and create
more growth opportunity.”
He said in the meantime
the airport was working
closely with the Western
Cape provincial government
to improve air access to the
city in an effort to move
more people and cargo
directly in and out of Cape
Town.
“In the past few weeks
we have seen some good
developments in this regard,”
said Paul van den Brink,
a project manager with
Wesgro. “Ethiopian Airlines
has increased its flight
schedule from two weekly
direct flights between Cape
Town and Addis Ababa to
four flights a week, while
SA Airlink has introduced a
direct flight between Maun
in Botswana and the City.”
Kenya Airways also
announced its intention to
fly a Nairobi-Livingstone-
Cape Town route three times
per week from July this year
while Turkish Airways now
also flies directly between
Istanbul and Cape Town
during the summer months.
According to Van den
Brink this all bodes well for
the airfreight sector that has
been severely impacted over
the past few years by the lack
of direct flights in and out of
Cape Town.
Western Cape Minister
of Economic Opportunity,
Alan Winde, said that
regionally there was
increasing interest in
f lights directly to Cape
Town. “The Angolan
market has shown huge
growth and direct f lights
to Cape Town from
that country have been
introduced. We expect
to see two more African
airlines announce direct
f lights to Cape Town in the
coming weeks,” he said.