Upington International Airport - Brochure 2015

Upington International Airport

Up,up and away

Upington International Airport

Upington Interna

Up,up an

Management and staff at Upin on cloud nine after winning a top number of initiatives which w

Written by: Stanley Jackson Produ

2

ational Airport is

nd away

ngton International Airport are p industry award and hoping a will make its reputation soar

uced by: Alex Barron >>>

3

Upington International Airport Up, up and away

E

xpansion and growth is literally taking off at Upington International Airport which aside from a multi-million rand investment has also just run away with a top industry award for Best Airport.

The management’s business strategy of continual improvement and finding new incentives to stimulate non-aeronautical revenues is beginning to reap rewards for Upington, which is owned by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) – the largest airports authority in South Africa.

For the first time this year it beat 4

rival George Airport, also owned by ACSA, to win the coveted ICI ASQ 2012 Award for Best Airport in the zero to two million passengers a year category.

Landside Controller JP Stander said: “The award is given to the airport judged to be the best for things like customer satisfaction, cleanliness of terminal and feeling safe and secure. George Airport has won it many times and now they are very mad at us for winning this year’s award.”

Runways resurfaced In 2008, a total of 71 million rand was spent on resurfacing the

Upington handles about 57,000 passengers a year airport’s three runways and building a new terminal around the existing one, which was also revamped. It has been fitted with world-class computer systems for airport operations and aviation security measures have been brought up to date.

At present Upington handles about 57,000 passengers a year and is seeing that figure grow by about eight percent each year.

One of its three runways measures 4,900 metres and the longest civilian runway in the Southern Hemisphere, and is one of the few able to land a space shuttle.

Both South African Airways and the

South African Air Force use the airport to train pilots in the handling of large aircraft such as 747s, 707s and the South African presidential jet.

Airlink is the only airline among domestic passenger flights that flies to Upington International Airport daily. These flights operate from Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airport also does a brisk business during the cargo season sending anything from cars and mining equipment to Europe, the Middle East and rest of Africa.

The German Automobile Association has for the past 30 years used the airport each year to test its vehicles due to the warm 5

ADB South African business model embraces consulting, design, manufacturing, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance, all of which are designed to offer our clients an exceptional return on their investments.

ADB South Africa comprises multiple business units, each with their own area of expertise and an ability to focus on the clients’ needs.

ADB South Africa prides itself in being a company that has been built using specific building blocks – passion, ethics, spirit, commitment and sincerity – and we are committed to promoting these ideals amongst our staff and sub-contractors, and in our approach to business in general. www.adb-airfieldsolutions.com

ADB Airfield Solutions (Pty) Ltd Second Floor, Rivonia Village | Cnr Mutual Road & Rivonia Boulevard South | Rivonia 2128, Johannesburg | South Africa

T: +27 (0)11 525 9343 | F: +27 (0)11 525 9348

Enlighten your world.

Sweet tooth?

Manufacturerers and distributors of Crystal, Cadbury and Pascall sweets and chocolate.

Email T: +263 4 753822-6 F: +263 4 749702 crycan@ecoweb.co.zw

Visit us online

Illuminating solutions for day or night. www.provincelighting.com

Upington International Airport Up, up and away Supplier Profile

ADB Airfield Solutions Industry: Airfield Solutions Services: Consulting, Design, Manufacturing, Supply, Installation, Commissioning, Maintenance.

Website: www.adb-airfieldsolutions.com

Visit us online:

We do have big hopes and are predicting our passenger numbers will start going up” J P S tan de r, L a n d Co n t roller

weather conditions at Upington.

Parking plan Occupying a 1,000-acre site, management at Upington have been innovators in coming up with projects to stimulate additional revenue for the airport. Since 2004, the airport has run a storage and parking scheme for aircraft that are not being used for flight.

Aircraft owners pay the airport a fee to allow them to park nonoperational planes and currently Upington can accommodate about 360 aircraft. The airport’s manager, Esmerelda Barnes got the idea from a visit to America, where similar schemes are running and decided that it was a good plan for Upington to adopt.

Stander said: “We are the only airport in the whole of Africa operating such a scheme because we have the right facilities to allow us to do it. It has also created about eight new jobs for people who look after the maintenance side of things.”

A sunny outlook The airport has also jumped on the back of a government’s solar power initiative in a bid to create alternative ways for meeting the

7

Upington International Airport Up, up and away

Solar power initiative needs of the country’s electricity generation.

The long hours of sunshine experienced in Upington means that the airport can use its own solar panels to provide enough energy to cover the airport’s own electricity needs and even be left with a surplus which it is selling back to South Africa’s electricity power generator Eskom.

Stander said: “Solar power is 8

attracting a lot of investors to the area who want put up factories to build the solar panels. We have identified our site because it is well-serviced and there are no government sites available around here.

“We have a company from Spain that is going to build a factory here and start producing in January next year. Their new facility will create 62 new jobs which will greatly benefit the local community which has one

STATISTICS

Industry: Aviation Founded: 1968 Headquarters: South Africa Key People/Titles: Esmaralda Barnes, Airport Manager JP Stander, Land Controller Products: Aviation services of the highest unemployment rates in the country.”

With its range of innovative projects, commitment to staff and the local community, Upington International Airport is well placed for a rosy future.

Stander concluded: “We do have big hopes and are predicting our passenger numbers will start going up. Upington is one of the airports with the biggest potential.”

Employees: 23 Website:

www.acsa.co.za

Visit us online:

9

Upington International Airport Diederick Road Upington 8801 Tel: +27 (0)54 337 7900 Fax: +27 (0)54 332 6502 Esmaralda.Barnes@airports.co.za www.acsa.co.za

Powered by:

http://digitalmediamarketing.com/

FIND OUT MORE >>