Is Cape Town International Approaching Bursting Point?
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
By Rob Russell
Every time you open a travel site or read a travel article, Cape Town is right up there and everyone wants to travel to the Western Cape. Great for business and the economy, but is the Cape well-equipped to handle the increase in air traffic?
At present, the Cape only has one airport that can handle international traffic, both scheduled and non-scheduled. Many of these non-scheduled (and private) flights bring some well-known people to the Cape and they are here to holiday and spend money, something the economy needs. Getting a permit to operate a non-scheduled private flight is well nigh impossible – certain people in the Department of Transport seem to forget they are there to serve the flying community, and are more interested in throwing every single landmine and obstacle in the way of these permit applications. It's high time the Minister removed the obstacle.
There is talk all over the place about a new airport, namely Cape Winelands International, being developed in the Fisantekraal area. Their management team has been doing a lot of work and preparation. Recent announcements include the builders and architects. However, we still don’t have a definite date for when it's going to happen and open. In the meantime, that leaves only Cape Town International to handle all flights. But can Cape Town International cope? It seems yes and more no.
One only has to look around Facebook and Twitter to see some pretty nasty comments about the airport. Maybe they are justified, maybe they are just frustrated passengers. Every airport around the world has them. Only this week I was speaking to someone who said it took them 5 hours to get through immigration at Barcelona!! Admittedly, it was the day before the start of the Tour de France!
As we approach the Cape summer season, airlines are lining up to announce their schedules. Emirates has announced their third daily flight; Qatar and Turkish have announced an increase in their flights. Ethiopian is flying twice daily into Cape Town. It is widely expected that British Airways is going to announce its summer schedule soon, which should see three flights a day from London.
European operators are announcing their flights for the summer season. Several are increasing their flights; Lufthansa is now going to offer daily flights to Frankfurt and Munich. The KLM/Air France group is also increasing its flights both to Paris and Amsterdam. Daily flights to the USA, but Delta and United, are now joined by Latam, operating three times a week into Cape Town. For those not in a rush, it gives the option of flying via South America and then onto many destinations in the USA.
Several airlines, from countries around the African continent, are also operating flights into Cape Town, some daily too.
There is no end to these flights. But can the airport cope?
Regular international passengers will know that there are only four air bridges linked to the terminal. That requires some pretty efficient management of them to ensure as many flights as possible get to use them. Having worked at the airport, albeit many years ago, there was a very tight rotation roster. Of course, it worked well, assuming all the flights were on time, none broke down in the bays, and there were no air traffic delays.
Airlines and ground handlers were understanding of the situation; well, most of them were, and it kind of worked well. Airlines that had aircraft standing for a few hours had ninety minutes to offload their passengers and freight and were then towed away to a remote bay for cleaning and servicing, etc. That put pressure on the poor ATS Ground controller, as he had to juggle the traffic entering, departing and passing through the apron to get those aircraft towed to their designated remote bays. They were then towed back to the air bridge approx two hours before departure.
Of course, Murphy was always around! Flights arrived early, and the air bridge bay they were supposed to go to was occupied, and thus they needed a remote bay. That required frantic last-minute moving around of ground equipment, finding buses to transport the passengers and much swearing from the airline representatives and ground handlers. Or aircraft were finally ready to depart and vacate the air bridge, but they couldn’t get out because of traffic passing them, so they held up others getting into their bays.
Or aircraft were delayed on pushback, and the just-arrived aircraft waiting for the air bridge bay had to wait, or park, somewhere else. That held up other aircraft wanting to get into or out of the apron. There were not many options, and there is basically only one way in and one way out of the apron. There is a taxiway in the middle of the apron, but depending on the wind direction, it was often used to vacate the runway, so not really a help. Airlines with tight turnarounds really don't want to have to see their aircraft at distant, remote stands. Using buses to get their passengers to and from the aircraft wastes time and is an additional unnecessary expense.
Much the same applies to domestic operators. They all want air bridges, but there are only half a dozen bays with them. Again, some imaginative juggling and much swearing to get aircraft into and out of those bays. Otherwise, it was a remote stand and all the problems associated with those. Now you realise how the poor ground controllers do an amazing job trying to juggle aircraft around the airport, to try and please everyone.
With the increase in flights, it’s only going to get worse. There have been many discussions and meetings to determine the traffic flow rates at Cape Town. With a runway that does not have rapid exit taxiways and some taxiways requiring aircraft to make turns of 135°, it’s not a user-friendly runway at all. The rate is set at about 25 aircraft an hour, assuming the weather is good, but in the fog, it’s not unusual to see this go down to half of that.
Flow rate models are mainly based on taking into consideration runway capacity, and they work pretty well. ATNS has some pretty fancy equipment to help them manage this, if it is used properly and efficiently, but the whole system falls apart when, for example, an aircraft pushing back on the northern side of the apron breaks down, or is delayed in the lane, and no other aircraft can pass them to get to the hold! Or the other way around, if the wind is from the north! It’s a nightmare when that happens. Trust me, I know; I worked as a Ground Controller for many years!!
Never mind the terminal building. The departure hall might look big and roomy, but have you ever tried to get through security early in the morning and late afternoon? Suddenly, the traffic on the N1 or N2 is a pleasure to sit in!!! ACSA has got to do some serious planning there and address that cock-up. Check-in counters are also at a premium during rush hours, and it’s not uncommon to see queues go around the block and halfway to the parking area!!! There really is a shortage of counters, and something needs to be done. But when? It’s too late for it to happen this year.
ACSA is always announcing these plans on how they intend to develop the airport. You know the one about the new runway, enlarging the terminal, creating more parking bays with air bridges. Every few months, the PR department, in a bid to justify their jobs, holds a press briefing saying what they are planning to do and presents pretty graphics of what the redesigned airport will look like. Has anyone else noticed that each time the cost goes up, building will commence soon, and then nothing happens? It’s been going on like this for several years now, and the tape has been replayed so much that it is breaking down as well now.
Even if they start next Monday, it’s going to take them a few years to build a new runway, get the approach and departure procedures designed, approved by the CAA (if there is still one of those left in a few years) and then start using it. In the meantime, where are they going to build these new aircraft parking bays they talk about and enlarge the terminal building?
Let’s get serious. Apart from talking, has ACSA actually got any plans and timelines to do this? “It's happening” is the standard answer, but no one can actually say when the happening is going to happen. Anyone can tell you building a runway and expanding an apron doesn't take a week; it takes months, if not years.
This summer is going to be the real test. The terminals are going to be close to bursting in peak times, passengers are going to get delayed, flights are going to be delayed, and we all know the knock-on effect. Grumpy passengers shouting at airline officials when it’s not their fault, but the airport owner, aka ACSA, who talks a good game and does nothing to address the issues and problems. And let’s not talk about getting through customs and immigration when it is busy. Speaking to several passengers who departed and arrived, they had some pretty harsh words about the e-gates. Ranging from “user-unfriendly” to “slow” to “just hopeless”, these issues need addressing. It might not be ACSA equipment, but it is their airport, and they need to liaise with the relevant Government departments to sort the issues out.
As I said earlier, down the road at Winelands, there has been plenty of talking and plenty of planning. In fact, lots of it, both for the airport and the airspace around the airport. But we really need to see some real action now – builders building and an airport being laid out. Likewise, if they start in the next few months, it could be a year or two before the airport gets a license and starts operating. Originally, they were planning to open in 2027, but I guess that has been moved down the calendar.
In the meantime, Cape Town gets busier and closer to the bursting point.
We're in for a rough ride this summer; let’s not deny that. Now you know why ACSA want you at the airport three or four hours before your flight leaves, not 30 minutes like the good old days! The staff in the AMC - Airport Management Centre are going to be working overtime and using some imaginative planning to juggle aircraft and passengers.
On a good note, ACSA at least deserve some praise for bringing the problems of unsafe travel to the attention of arriving passengers. Now they just need to get rid of those irritating taxi touts walking around the terminal trying to sucker passengers into riding with them.
Who said Africa would be easy and flying was fun? As they say, toughen up and enjoy the ride; it's going to be a great one in the end!!!
