Acsa finally reveals R10bn overhaul of Cape Town International Airport

Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) – SA’s fastest growing air hub that’s busting beyond current capacity during peak periods like December and during the week of Mining Indaba – is finally set to get its long-awaited upgrade and expansion.

The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) on Friday revealed initial plans for the airport’s multi-billion-rand overhaul, which will happen over a number of phases over the next decade.

Read: Cape Town airport breaks all records with 11.1m passengers in 2025

It released the first renderings of the airport plans on Friday showing the initial upgrades earmarked for the domestic and international terminals.

However, the much bigger new runway/runway realignment development plans, which will take up most of the overall capex plans for CTIA is also being finalised.

“A flagship component of the CTIA upgrade programme is the new, realigned main runway, currently estimated at approximately R6.39 billion, with contractor appointment planned for December 2026,” Acsa confirmed in a statement.

It said  “complementing the runway project” is the expansion of the domestic terminal building and domestic arrivals area, which is set to commence in April next year. These two more immediate developments will cost almost R3 billion.

However, Acsa noted that the projects are still subject to final regulatory approvals and procurement processes.

“The expansion will significantly enhance passenger processing capacity, improve circulation, and modernise the overall terminal environment in line with projected demand growth,” it said.

More airbridges

“The programme also provides for additional domestic contact gates and airbridges, as well as expanded apron capacity to support increased aircraft parking and improved aircraft movement flow,” Acsa added.

The state-owned airport company, which currently has a monopoly in SA, will also embark on phased developments of CTIA’s international terminal building, currently estimated at R863 million.

“These enhancements include additional apron stands, expanded commercial and lounge offerings, and improvements to immigration processing and bussing gates,” Acsa said.

“Collectively, the identified capacity development projects at Cape Town International Airport are currently estimated at approximately R10.143 billion,” it added.

This means the CTIA expansion will take up most of Acsa’s current R21.3 billion overall capex plans for its major airports in South Africa, including OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg), Durban’s King Shaka International, and George Airport, as well as its two airports in the Eastern Cape.

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