The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape welcomes the upcoming upgrades to Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) as detailed in a presentation today by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) during a Provincial Parliament Standing Committee briefing.
Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2020 and should be concluded at the end of the year 2022, comprising of a new realigned runway, a domestic arrivals terminal expansion, and new international terminals. The upgrades will also build infrastructure to accommodate large passenger aircrafts such as the Airbus A380, which will open up Cape Town to a number of international flight routes and cities which were previously inaccessible.
As part of the airport expansion, ACSA also has a constructive working relationship with the City of Cape Town to involve the airport’s neighbouring communities of Blikkiesdorp, Freedom Farm, and Malawi Camp. The City will build formal housing in these communities and provide technical house-building skills in partnership with False Bay College as part of the airport expansion, amounting to a R7 billion investment.
These communities will also be given preferential access to employment opportunities at CTIA, which is a sound commitment to social upliftment in the region.
I will be writing to ACSA to express my Committee’s appreciation of the investment in surrounding communities, and for the organisation’s open and transparent process by which it involves respective stakeholders such as the neighbouring communities, the City of Cape Town, the Provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism, and Wesgro in this development project.
Deidré Baartman, MPP says: “In terms of the airport’s international terminals, these are the very first impression tourists have of Cape Town when they arrive in our city. I am glad that these facilities will receive the necessary upgrades to create a world class experience to stimulate tourism which creates much needed jobs in our province”.
MPP Baartman adds: “With the expansion of the airport as a point of entry for international visitors, I will be monitoring the staffing of Home Affairs officials in the new terminals to accommodate the expected growth in passenger numbers. Every part of a traveller’s experience, including customs and passport control, must be seamless and pleasant if we want to promote Cape Town as a competitive international tourist destination”.
The DA in the Western Cape remains committed to ensuring that the expansion of Cape Town International Airport is used not only as a catalyst for economic growth in the tourism sector, but as a means to bring much needed development and job opportunities to neighbouring communities. Everyone can and should benefit from these upgrades to better our province and the lives of our residents.
