Lnoppen - Corridor of Insights

2nd Annual Africa Airport Expansion Summit, 2014

20th - 21st February, 2014, Cape Town, South Africa

African trade is booming and this has created major opportunities for the African airport sector.Many central African countries are upgrading and constructing new terminals and airfields in their bid to become the new major airport hub. The scope of projects is wide, the investment involved is numerous and opportunities for equipment, technology and service providers are unprecedented.

At the 2nd Annual Africa Airport Expansion Summit, government officials, construction companies, airlines, airport authorities and operators discussed with consultants, architects, equipment providers and service groups, in order to better explore the market and support project development.

After the opening remarks of Mr. Bruno BOUCHER, Associate Partner at Lufthansa Consulting and chairman of the first day, Ms. Tebello MOKHEMA kicked off the summit by giving a very detailed overview of the airport development projects in Africa. It became clear that the overview this year was looking more positive than during the previous conference and delegates expressed their hope that figures would continue to improve for the next year. Ms. MOKHEMA’s overview of the sector led way for the 1st panel of the conference, moderated by Mr. Ahmed BASSA, Executive Director of Aerodrome to Contrails. Guided by Mr. BASSA, the four panelists: Mr. Vuwani NDWAMATO, Director of Air Transport at the South African Department of Transport; Mr. Jonathan MAJAKWARA, Project Manager/Air Navigation Technical Expert of the COMESA EAC SADC Tripartite; Mr. J.P. TRUTER, Deputy CEO of the Commercial Aviation Association of Southern Africa and Mr. Alexander HERRING, Managing Director at Safegate Germany & Executive Committee Member Chamber of Commerce CBL-ACP, shared their insights on clear sky policies and the deregulation of the market. The Yamoussoukro decision dates back to 1999 and all delegates stressed the need to implement and follow this agreement. After this panel, the fl oor was handed over to Mr. Deon CLOETE, Managing Director of Cape Town International Airport. Where Ms. MOKHEMA focused her presentation on Africa as a continent, Mr. CLOETE zoomed in on the developments taking place in South Africa and moreover the projects and master plan for Cape Town International Airport.

After the first tea break, the focus was shifted to investment and financing of all these projects. We first heard Mr. Alexander HERRING, Managing Director at Safegate Germany & Executive Committee Member Chamber of Commerce CBL-ACP who explained the different sources of capital and the ways airports can increase their revenue.

His presentation was followed by a session from Mr. Carmelo COCUZZA, Head of Regional Representation at the European Investment Bank. Mr. COCUZZA explained how the EIB can help with funding and showed a few case studies of airport development projects in Africa where EIB played a significant role. Right before lunch-break, Mr. Steve TURNER, Senior Contracts Manager at Lagan Construction showed the delegates some of the global airport projects his company was involved in, before inviting everybody to lunch, sponsored by Lagan Construction.

The afternoon of the first day focused on safety and security as well as IT solutions for airports and terminals. We started off with Mr. Olefi leBoikie MOAKOFI, Acting CEO of the Botswana Civil Aviation Authority. Mr. MOAKOFI discussed the air traffic control measures in Africa and used Botswana as a case study to assess the USOAP results over the past years. His speech was followed by a presentation from Mr. Tebogo MPHELA who is Head of operations Airports & Airlines at the South Africa Civil Aviation Authority. He reflected on the current state of regulatory compliance by RSA, the collaboration in Africa and the transformation of the industry. Before going for the last networking session, Mr. Krish DEOKALI, CEO of Mobeni Integrated Solutions, showed the audience through a very detailed presentation how the African airports can better integrate their IT and security solutions.

After another successful networking session, Mr. Barry KASHAMBO, Executive Director at EAC CASSOA, looked at the major security risks that African airports face and shed some light on the regulatory evolution and the way to move forward. His enlightening speech was followed by a presentation of Mr. Edward John SEABORNE, Channel Manager at Robert Bosch South Africa. He looked at the different ways airports can integrate their solutions to run a smoother operation.

The first day was then concluded by Mr. Torsten HENTSCHEL, Managing Director at TH Airport Consulting. Mr. Hentschel focusing on the future, showed how terminals can be improved, automated and smarter designed.

After this, Mr. Bruno BOUCHER closed the first day by summarizing discussions that took place during the day and invited everybody to the 2nd day of the summit.
The second day was opened by Mr. Ahmed BASSA, who recapitulated what was discussed on Thursday and expressed the hope that after the policies and investment topics and the challenges that were uncovered on Thursday, Friday would bring solutions and practical advises of the local and international companies.
First speaker of day 2 was Mr. Simon LOTTER, Airport Operations Consultant at Munich Airport. He explained about ORAT – Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer and showed why ORAT is important and how airports in Africa can also benefit from such a project when moving from one terminal to another. Mr. LOTTER was followed by Mr. Tal FURMAN, Civil Engineer at Palram. Mr. FURMAN went over the different architectural systems they have to provide airports with polycarbonate sheets and its benefits. His presentation led way for Ms. Wanda CHUNNETT, Director at Turner & Townsend. Ms Chunnett gave very clear and concise information about the bench-marking of construction costs at African airports and addressed various queries the delegates had about the costs.
After a networking break, the conference continued with insights from Mr. J.P. TRUTER, Deputy CEO at CAASA. Mr. Truter argued about the importance of regional airports, especially for business travel, and the need for a regional airport status within the Department of Transport. After this call for action, focus was shifted to operations and passenger experience.

Mr. Gavin SCOTT, Retail Manager at Cape Town International Airport showed it is possible to create a world class retail portfolio for the travellersin Africa and he gave a detailed explanationon where to start, what is important for the customer, what needs to happen for the retailer and how to close the right contract. His presentation was followed by a speech from Mr. Stéphane SEGUIER, Senior Vice President Business Development at ADPI (Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie). Mr. Séguier showed some knowledge about the operations at Aéroports de Paris and how they keep the passenger happy and explained how they can bring this efficiency to African airports.
After lunch, we continued with experience from overseas and Mr. Martin WILLICH, Project Director at Fraport discussed the aerotropolis concept around the world and looked into the viability of such an aerotropolis in Africa. Airports can of course not run smoothly without a good integrated system for ground, baggage and cargo handling. Mr. Forsyth BLACK, Senior Vice President Africa Middle East and India at Menzies Aviation, therefore elaborated on how they use an all-round logistics system and how airports can improve their handling. Mr. BLACK’s presentation was followed by a last networking session after which Mr. Joel MASUKU,Director of Airport Operations & Development from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe spoke on the developments taking place at the airports in Zimbabwe and more particularly the project at Victoria Falls.
Before closing the conference, a panel was brought together under the guidance of Mr. Frédéric THENEVIN, Business Development Director Africa at Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie. Together with Mr. THENEVIN, panelists Ms. Tebello MOKHEMA, Director: Membership, Communication and Strategy at ACI Africa; Mr. Tebogo MPHELA, Head of Operations: Airports & Airlines at South African Civil Aviation Authority and Ms. BoniDIBATE, Director Africa Affairs at Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation concluded the summit by looking at the challenges discussed during the two days and the growth opportunities there are for Africa. Mr. Ahmed BASSA, chairman of the second day, concluded the summit and invited all participants to use the conference as a starting point for more discussions.

We also want to extend our gratitude to all the delegates for their active participation. Their questions spoke to the heart of the main issues facing the aviation industry and their eagerness to build the industry is commendable.
Noppen would like to express a special thanks to the sponsors of the 2nd Annual Africa Airport Expansion Summit: Palram, Huawei &MobeniIntegrated Solutions, Robert Bosch, Arinc, NEC, Lagan Construction, ADB, Johnson Controls, TechTradeDoors and Safegate as well as our official supporter Airports Company South Africa for their contributions to the event.
We have no doubt that your contribution helped in making this event a success.

2nd Annual Africa Airport Expansion Summit, 2014

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