Acsa aims to enter rest of Africa with new model
Airports Company SA (Acsa), the state-owned agency that operates the country's nine major airports, is investigating "several opportunities" to expand its business in the rest of Africa and may close a deal within the next six months, according to the company's acting MD Bongani Maseko.
The model for the business that is being pursued in Africa is different to that which has been followed by the company in Latin America and India, he said, where Acsa has invested in the infrastructure.
Mr Maseko declined to say with which countries the company was in discussion.
In Africa there was not much scope for the concessioning of existing airports and the work would be more likely to fall under project management and transport planning for governments that needed to upgrade transport infrastructure, Mr Maseko said.
In February Acsa, in partnership with its Brazilian counterpart Invepar, won the bid for a 20-year concession of the Guaralhos International Airport near Sao Paulo, the busiest airport in Latin America.
Acsa will invest between R60m and R70m in the airport by June next year. Over the next five years Acsa will invest about R420m in the airport to expand and upgrade the infrastructure, Mr Maseko said.
"The concession agreement was signed on June 14, and with the signing of the agreement it moved us to an operations preparedness plan," he said. Acsa ould take over full operation of the airport "early next year", said Mr Maseko.
The government of Brazil is under enormous pressure to upgrade its infrastructure, including airports, roads and stadiums, ahead of its hosting of the 2014 Fifa Soccer World Cup and the Summer Olympics in 2016. Acsa is also part of a consortium in India and holds a 10% stake in the concession company that holds a 30-year concession agreement to manage and operate the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
Acsa is already in discussions with the Indian government about the extension of this concession for another 30 years.
Yesterday the company reported a R188m net profit in the year ended March 31 from a loss of R221m a year earlier. The positive result was from increased tariffs and a small jump in passenger numbers at airports it managed, the company said.
The aviation industry has been battling a perfect storm of record high fuel prices, overcapacity and a slump in demand for travel services as a result of the continued economic malaise in the US and uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis.
Acsa paid out R2bn in finance charges during the year to end March 31 as part of its obligations to pay down the R16bn debt it incurred to upgrade its airports across the country ahead of the hosting of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.
Mr Maseko said the company was "very worried" about the market conditions globally and domestically, which were negatively affecting the airline industry.
Source: Business Day
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