Cape Town International Airport (IATA: CPT, ICAO: FACT) is the primary airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport, Wingfield Aerodrome. Cape Town International Airport is the only airport in the Cape Town metropolitan area that offers scheduled passenger services. The airport has domestic and international terminals, linked by a common central terminal.
The airport has direct flights from South Africa's other two main urban areas, Johannesburg and Durban, as well as flights to smaller centres in South Africa. Internationally, it has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia and Europe. The air route between Cape Town and Johannesburg was the world's ninth busiest air route in 2011 with an estimated 4.5 million passengers.
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History
Cape Town International Airport was opened in 1954, a year after Jan Smuts Airport (now OR Tambo International Airport) on the Witwatersrand opened. The airport replaced Cape Town's previous airport, Wingfield Aerodrome. Originally called D.F. Malan Airport after the then South African prime minister, it initially offered two international flights: a direct flight to Britain and a second flight to Britain via Johannesburg.
With the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s, ownership of the airport was transferred from the state to the newly formed Airports Company South Africa, and the airport was renamed to the politically neutral Cape Town International Airport. The first years of the twenty-first century saw tremendous growth at the airport; from handling 6.2 million passengers per annum in 2004-05, the airport peaked at 8.4 million passengers per annum in 2007-08 before falling back to 7.8 million in 2008-09.
In preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Cape Town International Airport was extensively expanded and renovated. The main focus was the development of a Central Terminal Building at a cost of R1.6 billion, which linked the formerly separate domestic and international terminals and provided a common check-in area. The departures level of the Central Terminal opened in November 2009, with the entire building opened in April 2010.
Apart from completion of the 2010 expansion project, it has been proposed that a second runway for large aircraft be constructed at Cape Town International Airport. An expected date for construction of the second runway.
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Facilities
Terminal
The terminal building has a split-level design, with departures located in the upper floors and arrivals in the lower floors; an elevated roadway system provides vehicular access to both departures and arrivals levels. All check-in takes place within the Central Terminal Building, which contains 120 check-in desks and 20 self-service kiosks. Passengers then pass through a consolidated security screening area before dividing, with international passengers heading north towards the international terminal (which contains immigration facilities), and domestic passengers heading south towards the domestic terminal.
The terminal contains 10 air bridges, evenly split between domestic and international usage. Sections of lower levels of the domestic and international terminals are used for transporting passengers via bus to and from remotely parked aircraft.
Arriving passengers collect luggage in the old sections of their respective terminals, before proceeding through new passageways to the new Central Terminal Building. The terminal contains an automated baggage handling system, capable of handling 30,000 bags per hour.
Retail outlets are located on the lower (arrivals) level of the terminal at landside, as well as airside at the departure gates. Retail outlets are diverse, including foreign exchange services, bookstores, clothing retailers, grocery stores, souvenir outlets and duty-free in international departures. Restaurants within the terminal building are located on the upper (3rd) level above the departures level, which includes what is purported to be the largest Spur restaurant on the African continent, at 1,080 m2 (11,600 sq ft). The restaurant level overlooks the airside of the terminal, where a glass curtain wall separates the patrons from the planes 3 storeys below.
Other facilities
There are two hotels located within the airport precinct, one being Hotel Verde, a four-star hotel owned by Bon Hotels and considered to be "Africa's greenest hotel", and other being Road Lodge, a budget hotel owned by the City Lodge hotel chain group. An ExecuJet facility is located near the southern end of the main runway, and caters for business jets. The airport also has a MyCiti BRT station which connects across the whole of Cape Town including east of the city Khayelitsha.
Airlines and destinations
- ^1 This flight operates between Singapore and Cape Town via Johannesburg, however Singapore Airlines does not have rights to transport passengers solely between Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Statistics
Passenger traffic
Aircraft movements
Ground transport
Car
Cape Town International Airport is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the city centre and is accessible from the N2 freeway, with Airport Approach Road providing a direct link between the N2 (at exit 16) and the airport. The airport can also be indirectly accessed from the R300 freeway via the M12, M10 and M22.
The airport provides approximately 1,424 parking bays in the general parking area, and 1,748 parking bays in the multi-storey parkade located near the domestic terminal. A new parkade, which is located near the international terminal, and provides an additional 4,000 bays, was opened in 2010. The airport also offers a valet parking service.
Public transport
The MyCiTi bus rapid transit system provides a shuttle service connecting the airport with the Civic Centre bus station in the city centre. Buses depart every 20 minutes from 04:20 to 22:00. Transport to and from the airport is also provided by metered taxis and various private shuttle companies.
Rail link
There is no direct rail access to Cape Town International Airport. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has proposed a 4 km (2.5 mi) rail link between the airport and Cape Town's existing suburban rail network.
Accolades
- 2009 - Best Airport in Africa award by Skytrax, ahead of Durban International Airport and OR Tambo International Airport.
- 2011 - Best Airport in Africa of the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International
- 2012 - Best Airport in Africa award by Skytrax
- 2013 - Best Airport Staff in Africa award by Skytrax
- 2013 - Best Airport in Africa award by Skytrax
Accidents and incidents
- On 5 June 1983 a Cessna 402B, tail number ZS-KVG, crashed shortly after take-off in inclement weather. Seven out of the nine on board were killed. It transpired that the pilot did not have an instrument rating and had falsified his logbook to hire the aircraft.
- On 7 November 2007, a Boeing 737-230, ZS-OEZ, operated by Nationwide Airlines suffered complete separation of the right (starboard) engine at take-off. The take-off was continued and the crew successfully landed the aircraft without injury or loss of life. The aircraft had 106 passengers on board.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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