Airports Company South Africa, which is majority owned by the South African government, was instrumental in expanding a terminal at Brazil’s Guarulhos International Airport in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, AfricanBusinessReview reports.
In the spirit of doing business with BRICS countries, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff today officially opened the terminal as part of the country’s preparations for hosting the world’s premier international football competition. Guarulhos is the largest international airport in Latin America.
Airports Company South Africa’s involvement in BRICS markets includes a partnership for the management of Mumbai International Airport in India.
The latest achievement for Airports Company South Africa follows its successful development of South Africa’s major airports in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the report said. The company claims to provide world-class expertise for airport infrastructure development.
Operating nine of South Africa’s airports, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is headquartered in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni.
All South Africa’s airports were government-owned and operated until 1993 when the nine airports were reassigned to ACSA. The government was initially the only shareholder, but sold 20 percent of shares in 1998 to Aeroporti di Roma which sold the shares again in 2005 at double the amount it paid.
Although ACSA is majority owned by the South African government, it is legally and financially autonomous and operates under commercial law.
Bongani Maseko, Airports Company South Africa CEO talked about the company’s most ambitious project to date: “After a year and nine months of construction, we are excited about the on-time completion of phase one. The delivery of the facility will go a long way in eliminating the main bottlenecks there were at the airport and increase capacity.
“Our involvement in projects of this scale and magnitude, while driven by the strategic desire to connect markets, has enabled the company to continue to provide world-class expertise for airport infrastructure development.”
Terminal 3 at Guarulhos was modeled on the modern structure of Asian and European airports, with two buildings and five levels dedicated exclusively to international flights.
Airports Company South Africa partnered with INFRAERO and Invepar to form GRU – the consortium that won the bid to manage the airport in 2012.
Terminal 2 at Mumbai International Airport was built to be highly energy and water efficient with its design reducing energy consumption by 23 percent.
In April, Airports Company South Africa signed a memo of understanding with Ghana Airports Co. provide advisory and technical consultancy services on all airport-related matters in Ghana as part of the country’s ongoing focus and expansion into emerging markets.
This includes Kotoka International Airport in the country’s capital, Accra, three regional airports and other airfields. Air traffic has been experiencing phenomenal growth in Ghana in recent years, with domestic traffic growing by over 30 percent a year and
international passengers by around 10 percent.
Maseko said he was pleased “that Brazil has recognized and acknowledged South Africa’s pre-eminence in the development and management of world-class airports by entering into an agreement for us to provide multi-dimensional assistance for their aggressive airport expansion program.”
Airports Company South Africa says it will continue to have representation in Brazil for the next three years.
The following international airports are operated by ACSA:
O.R. Tambo International Airport – Johannesburg
Cape Town International Airport
King Shaka International Airport – Durban
Bram Fischer International Airport
Upington Airport
Port Elizabeth Airport
São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport – Brazil
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport – Mumbai, India
(consortium with Bidvest and Airports Authority of India)
The following local South African airports are operated by ACSA:
East London Airport
George Airport
Kimberley Airport
