The government is planning to spend at least R21.7 billion on extensive upgrades to South Africa’s airports, including an overhaul of the cargo and logistics area of O.R. Tambo International Airport, which will take place over the next three to eight years.
This is according to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, who spoke about the plan during a recent parliamentary Q&A.
Preparing for the future
The airport upgrade plan was revealed when ANC Parliamentary Whip Christopher Nakampe Malematja inquired whether Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) infrastructure was prepared to handle increased traffic to the nation’s various international airports.
It was also asked whether the number of international and regional flights to South Africa has increased recently.
Creecy’s response was that based on the analysis of air traffic growth, regional and international flights have consistently increased over the past four years.
If the year-on-year growth recorded in 2023 and 2024 continues, South Africa can expect an increase of 4.85% for regional and 4.26% for international travelers.
Supporting this prediction is the fact that ACSA’s total departing passenger traffic recovered to 88% within the last financial year compared to pre-pandemic levels – the equivalent of 18.3 million passengers.
The recovery rate was consistent across both domestic and international routes, and was a stark improvement over the 16% rate seen in the previous financial year.
Regional air traffic has also gone up thanks to greater capacity and new route expansions by South African Airways, Eswatini Air, Airlink, Cemair, FlySafair, and Air Botswana.
The Department of Transport estimates that the ATNS’ technical infrastructure capacity is currently sufficient to manage the changes in volume.
“The capital investment and renewal plan are also planned around the growth in movements to ensure sufficient capacity and functionality in support of the planned Air Traffic Management services,” said Creecy.
The approved permission for the airports plan was gazetted in January 2024, providing a framework for tariff increases that will enable infrastructure investment in the airports managed by ACSA.
This plan was put on hold for years due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The refurbishments are, therefore, meant to restore ACSA’s airport infrastructure following the pandemic and expand its capacity to accommodate the next decade of growing passenger and freight demand.
Starting in the 2025 financial year, ACSA will set about implementing its approved permission to upgrade the nation’s various airports, using a capex programme of R21.7 billion.
One of the first plans involves an overhaul of South Africa’s busiest flight centre, as O.R. Tambo will receive an upgrade to its cargo and logistics area, turning it into one of the leading air hubs in the southern hemisphere.
“This is the largest allocation since the preparations for World Cup 2010,” ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu recently said.
“You will see a change in our airports that is as big as we did when we were preparing for the World Cup.”
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