George Airport lauded in 2018 ACI Awards

George Airport was announced as “2018 Best Airport by Region” in the Africa category for airports with under two million passengers. George Airport also came out tops in the ACI Africa Safety Awards for 2018. George Airport is the winner of the “Best Airport in Africa over 20,000 air traffic miles”.

After an extensive evaluation process of Africa’s best airports, which involved screening many entries from several African countries, the Western Cape airport has been singled out for its customer service excellence, its high safety standards and excellent compliance records. Airports Council International (ACI) received significant interest in its 2018 African safety awards category and the submissions were of a very high standard.

Brenda Vorster, George Airport manager, said, “The management and staff at George Airport are incredibly proud that our airport has once again been recognised for the excellent passenger service that we offer. The safety award is a new one for us and receiving this accolade has involved hard work and dedication from our safety team on the ground and we are so proud to see the fruit of our efforts in the form of this prestigious award.”

The award will be presented to the management of George Airport at the ACI World Conference and Annual General Assembly from the 14-18 October 2018, to be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

George Airport has been awarded the South African Airport of the Year award six times, and this is attributed to its steady growth, coupled with an unwavering commitment to service and efficiency.

Senzeni Ndebele, Airports Company South Africa’s corporate affairs senior manager for regional airports, said, “We are very pleased to have received yet another Airports Council International acknowledgement recognising George Airport’s passenger service excellence. This success is largely due to doing the tireless work by our excellent management team and their unwavering commitment to the continual improvement of George Airport.”

George Airport’s annual passenger numbers continue to grow with increasing numbers of passengers travelling to the region's mountains, beaches and forests. George Airport welcomed over 400,000 passengers during the 2016/2017 financial year. The airport not only plays a central role in the region's tourist economy but is a national distribution hub for cargo such as flowers, fish, oysters, herbs and ferns.

George Airport is also Africa's first airport to be solar powered, with a 200m solar plant which was launched at the airport in 2016, further demonstrating a commitment to clean energy generation and sustainability on behalf of Airports Company South Africa.