Cape Town - The number of
planes landing at Cape Town
International Airport had increased
by 25 percent since 1993
and this growth rate was expected
to continue despite the withdrawal
of some international
flights, Hennie Taljaard, the Cape
regional manager of the Airports
Company South Africa (Acsa),
said yesterday.
Last month 47 365 international
passengers arrived compared
with 46 119 in February last year.
But the number of domestic passengers
dipped slightly to 154 875
from 155 092 in the same month
last year.
Acsa would spend about
R800 million on development at
the airport to cope with the expected
increase, including new
passenger and cargo terminals.
Taljaard said the increase in
the number of aircraft arriving -
to 3 500 a month at present - had
caused the company to step up
safety features at the airport.
These included an extra fast mechanical
sweeper for runways
and the purchase of a custombuilt
fire engine for R5 million.
The soaring cost of fuel has
caused some international airlines
to end their flights in Johannesburg
because it was uneconomical
to continue to Cape
Town with halfempty planes.
But airlines flying nonstop to
Cape Town reported heavy passenger
loads and said there was
scope for more flights.
KLM, the Dutch airline, was
among those continuing to fly on
from Johannesburg. Thierry Aucoc,
the new general manager of
KLM and Alitalia`s joint operation,
said more passengers were
flying to Cape Town and it was
still worthwhile for his airline to
fly there by way of Johannesburg.