The company behind Cape Winelands Airport has stated that they have plans to ‘manage a number of airports’ in South Africa.
According to Tourism Update, the company has already obtained the lease to manage Plettenberg Bay Airport under the name Garden Route Aero and is currently in the process of acquiring an airport at the Gariep Dam in the Free State.
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Further company plans include the management of the Pilanesberg Airport in the North West province, according to SAPeople.
Deon Cloete, managing director of the Cape Winelands Airport and executive director of RSA.AERO, stated that the Cape Winelands Airport would serve as the group’s ‘central airport’, but they also have aspirations to be a ‘network operator’.
Tourism based on ‘adventure aviation activities,’ such as hot air ballooning and microlight flights, is the driving interest in an airport close to the Gariep Dam.
In addition, Cloete also said the company might explore ‘cross-border operations’.
‘If you fly to Cape Town and come and spend a week in Stellenbosch, you must have the option of going to the Garden Route and from there, to the likes of Sun City, Pilanesberg and even Victoria Falls and back again before you go back to Europe,’ said Cloete.
The company’s current expansion programme, as well as upgrades at the current Cape Winelands Airport, is underway and is said to conclude in 2027.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes are currently taking place, with ‘public consultations’ envisioned for the remainder of the year.
RSA.AERO is also targeting approvals by next year with a two-year building process.
Key features of the upgraded airport will include vineyards that serve as part of the landscaping aesthetics to portray the region’s wine culture, open spaces that will include a plaza, hotel, conference centre, a wine-tasting experience, an outdoor amphitheatre for events of up to 5 000 people and an aviation museum.
Other features include a botanical garden that will host a diverse collection of indigenous fynbos, as well as ‘spacious and comfortable’ waiting lounges with ‘ergonomic seating’.
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