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Western Cape Business 2018 edition

  • Text
  • Nedbank
  • Sectors
  • Growth
  • Finance
  • Government
  • Africa
  • Management
  • Infrastructure
  • Transport
  • Opportunities
  • Energy
  • Development
  • Wesgro
  • Vodacom
  • Investment
  • Cape
  • Business
  • Tourism
  • Economic
  • Municipality
The 2018 edition of Western Cape Business is the 11th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2005, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Western Cape. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, there are special features on the growth of tourism (spurred by an innovative programme designed to create more direct flights to Cape Town), medical technology as a growth sector and the pursuit of excellence that drives the Cape Winemakers Guild. The journal contains a message from Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, and contributions from significant business leaders from Accelerate Cape Town, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and the Western Cape Business Opportunities Forum. An interview with Tim Harris, Wesgro’s CEO, reveals some of the recipe for the province’s economic success. Updated information on the Western Cape is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to online at www.globalafricanetwork.com, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces as well as our flagship South African Business title.

INTERVIEW Breaking

INTERVIEW Breaking records and geared for expansion The general manager of Cape Town International Airport, Deon Cloete, explains how the airport was able to handle 10-million arrivals in 2016. Deon Cloete, GM Why did you win Africa’s Leading Airport at the 2017 World Travel Awards Africa? We have great people. And it’s not just us. We have just over 550 people but at a campus level, we have about 8 000 employees representing all the streams such as merchants and service providers. Is there a committee that oversees the airport? We try to do it at association level. Thirty organisations meet in the security structure, the Joint Planning Committee. The airlines have an executive meeting representing individual airlines. We recently adopted a new operating model with key account managers for each group that makes a material contribution at airport level, SARS, Customs, retailers, etc. Historically all our efforts were about making ACSA successful directly, but we recognise that the value chain is much broader. We want those entities to be, and remain successful. BIOGRAPHY Deon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa. He has 30 years experience in the aviation industry and has served at all nine ACSA airports. In 2000 he was seconded to South African Airways as General Manager: Support Services. Deon served on the Boards of Wesgro, the Western Cape Economic Development Agency, and now he serves on the NSRI and CTICC boards. What is the model of Air Access? Prior to 2015 we had an informal arrangement but then we put the funding in place and now big corporates are involved. Currently the model is they make a financial contribution and the steering committee decides how best to use it. It might be some reciprocal arrangement with an airline in London. The steering committee is quite small: the city, the province, ACSA, Cape Town Tourism, SA Tourism and Wesgro as the managing agent. Is Air Access the only such organisation in SA? It’s the only structure we are aware of. We are a national competency, the province and city occupy the other tiers and it’s the first time all three tiers are working together. When you bring in the local corporates and they start participating, then you create a sustainable model. There are signs of it happening elsewhere. Can you cope with more than 10-million passengers? After the most recent upgrade we were told, congratulations, you now have 14-million passenger capacity, but that is academic because it depends where you grow, where are the loads. Overall, we are confident that we still have capacity. We have 30 flights per hour and we do no WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2018 30

INTERVIEW more. That is a practical reality and it speaks to the constraints that we have. And future plans? We have launched a five-year development plan. We are committed to a R5- to R7-billion capital plan which includes runway and terminal infrastructure. The Air Access programme has delivered results beyond our wildest dreams, so we have to start reviewing the investment programme. When do you start building? We are going through all of the regulatory approvals. The only one still standing is the runway EIA, which is in the final stages of an appeal. There was one appeal relating to noise. We don’t need a longer runway but we need to realign it to maximise conditions for take-off and landing. The runway will move 220 metres to the east, and rotate 11.5 degrees. That way we get the optimum utilisation and we avoid the Durbanville hills completely. When do anticipate the building to begin? In October 2018. If we get all our approvals then construction could start on the R3.8-billion runway. What other benefits will the new runway bring to the airport? When we design the runway we can accommodate aircrafts of any design. When we build our aprons, we mark them for any aircraft. Terminals have a central search point so we can join them together depending on the loads – efficiency is a big part of the game. We put a big focus on our time performance. We just touch 90% in terms of arriving and departing on time. There is a rule of thumb that every saving of 4% in on-time performance, saves the airlines an aircraft, so that’s quite significant. WE HAVE LAUNCHED A FIVE- YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN. WE ARE COMMITTED TO A R5- TO R7-BILLION CAPITAL PLAN WHICH INCLUDES RUNWAY AND TERMINAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 31 WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2018

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