EFFECTIVE airport
infrastructure is needed to
drive connectivity but when
investments are made, it is
important to ensure these
are the right investments.
This was the message
Hemant Mistry, Iata’s
director of Airport and Fuel,
delivered at the Iata Aviation
Days Africa conference,
which took place in Sandton
from August 18 to 19.
Hemant said recent
investment in airports in
Africa was a good sign.
However, he emphasised
that greater user
consultation was needed to
ensure investments were
aligned to traffic needs.
Tebello Mokhema,
director of Membership,
Communication and
Strategy at Airports Council
International (ACI) Africa,
said African investment in
airport infrastructure lagged
behind international levels.
However, she pointed out
that the continent had
sufficient airports and
runways.
Tebello said the continent’s
airport infrastructure needs,
as pointed out by the
World Bank, were a modest
investment in enhancing
current terminals and
parallel taxi ways as well as
in maintenance and safety.
Hemant emphasised
the need for cost-effective
financing schemes and
suggested that pre-financing
models, where money was
borrowed at a high interest
rate, should be avoided.
Hemant explained that this
resulted in high airport
charges. To illustrate this
point, he referred to a
benchmark study that found
four out of five airports
with the highest charges
internationally were found
in Africa.
Tebello said that while air
traffic in Africa was growing,
ACI Africa believed excessive
taxation continues to inhibit
growth. She suggested that
aviation taxes should be
reinvested in the aviation
industry and not be used to
generate additional income
for country reserves. She
further suggested that
airports increase nonaeronautical
revenue in
order to minimise airport
charges.
Bongani Maseko, Acsa
ceo, said that airport tariffs
often spiked following
investments and this
was not desirable for
passengers. He said it
was important therefore
to find an appropriate
balance between funding
airport infrastructure and
meeting the needs of the
users. Addressing Acsa’s
investments in recent
years, Bongani said in
hindsight Acsa borrowed
money that did not come
cheap. Acsa had become
better at agreeing on
infrastructure with user
airlines.
“We have a five year
planning cycle,” said
Bongani. “Every five
years we meet with the
airlines and agree on what
investments are needed in
those five years.” He added
that Acsa had approached
the next cycle with the
intention to keep tariffs as
close to CPI as possible.
