Cape Town’s second international airport, the Cape Winelands Airport, has reached another key milestone with the project Environmental Authorisation application now submitted to government.
This was announced at the recent Chamber Chapter meeting at the Groot Phesantekraal Wine Estate in Durbanville.
During the meeting, Cape Winelands Airport Managing Director Deon Cloete outlined that the project EA had been submitted earlier in the month, with the final decision anticipated to come later in the year.
“We’ve been working for five years, last week we made the final submission for EA,” Cloete said.
He also noted that the Cape Winelands Airport Project now has a finance team in place to manage investment and loan proposals.
This is essential as the new airport is intended to handle over five million annual passengers by 2050 and serve as a key pillar in Cape Town’s infrastructure as the city continues to grow.
City of Cape Town urban mobility committee chairperson Mikhail Manuel echoed this sentiment, stating that it presents incredible business opportunities for the city and the Joostenberg area.
“On the whole, the city is exceptionally excited about this,” Manuel said.
The new airport is being developed on the Fisantekraal Airfield, formerly an operational base for the South African Air Force, and is located roughly 13 kilometres northeast of Durbanville.
It was officially renamed to the Cape Winelands Airport after being acquired by the current developers in 2020 and presently serves as a general aviation facility.
The development project for the airport aims to evolve Cape Winelands Airport from a modest airfield to an influential commercial and aviation centre.
This will involve the realigning and extending one of the airport’s four runways to accommodate wide-body aircraft and constructing a new terminal building.
A new cargo processing facility, hangarage, and fuelling facilities will also be built to accommodate the increased traffic and cargo.
Finally, a hotel accommodation for passengers, a heliport, and a warehousing and logistics facility round out the planned development.
The project is still in the planning phase, with the submitted Environmental Authorisation being the latest step and eventual commissioning expected in early 2028.
Airports in South Africa
The Cape Winelands Airport project isn’t the only major development plan happening among South Africa’s major airports.
One of the other main projects is from the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which is in the process of a massive infrastructure maintenance and capital expansion programme across its airports.
The ACSA owns nine of South Africa’s largest airports, including the OR Tambo, Cape Town, and King Shaka International Airports.
The project began in December 2024 and aims to improve passenger comfort and airport hygiene.
This will be achieved through the infrastructure maintenance and expansion of high-impact utilities such as sewerage systems, ablution facilities, and fire escapes, as well as improvements to safety and hygiene protocols in high-traffic and sensitive areas.
These projects, both that of the Cape Winelands Airport and the sweeping efforts made by the ACSA, will help bring South Africa’s airport infrastructure in line with the global standard.
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