World Cup 2010 Blog

By Michael Appel

Johannesburg - At least 3000 passengers per hour, are expected to pass through the OR Tambo International Airport’s domestic arrival terminal during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

This is according to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) which estimates that when running at capacity in 2010, OR Tambo International Airport will deal with 3 000 passengers per hour.

“If OR Tambo had to run at capacity for 10 hours, it means 30 000 domestic arrival travellers would have moved through the airport,”
Chief Transport and Logistics Officer at the LOC, Skhumbuzo Macozoma said.

Cape Town International Airport is expected to handle about 2 400 travellers per hour.

The country’s other smaller airports such KwaZulu-Natal’s La Mercy which is still under construction is expected to receive 1 750 travellers, while Durban International Airport is expected to accommodate 900 travellers an hour.

Mr Macozoma said his section was pleased with the progress made to date with regards to meeting all of FIFA’s transport requirements, including the opening of the newly constructed central terminal building at OR Tambo and the completion of dedicated lanes in Cape Town and Durban highways.

He also highlighted that the Business Commuter Express rail system had been established and was already in use.

Capital investment in airport infrastructure to date totals R21.9 billion, Mr Macozoma said.

R12.4 billion of that was spent on OR Tambo, R2.5 billion on Cape Town International and R6.7 billion was spent on Durban International Airport.

There will be three major ports of entry into South Africa ahead of and during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and world cup, including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

With regards to the LOC having a “plan B” if South Africa was not ready in time to host the event, LOC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Danny Jordaan said: “We must officially declare this idea of a Plan B dead. All the stadiums will be completed, there is no doubt about that.”

He said the LOC had accepted that at this time of year their might be disputes over Christmas bonuses among the stadium construction workers.

“It is the time of year when there will be disputes with workers around December bonuses and increases but there is a real sense of urgency amongst the workers to get the job done on time,” said Dr Jordaan.

Dr Jordaan said the LOC had ensured the two events were affordable to all by creating the Category 4 ticket which costs $10 dollars or R70. Further to this the LOC fixed the Rand to Dollar rate at $1 to R7 to ensure it does not increase in price.

Although the economic climate has drastically changed since that decision, with the rand currently standing at R10.22 to $1, Dr Jordaan said that their budget was fine and that the decision greatly favoured the public.

Head of legal affairs and ticketing at the LOC, Leslie Sedibe, told media that since tickets for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup went on sale on 23 November 2008 - South Africans have led the race for tickets.

According to current figures, interest is highest in Category 4 tickets, which are only available to South African residents.

The most popular ticket is the Venue Specific Ticket (VST) in Category 4, while the most popular match to watch during the Confederations Cup is game 11 between Italy and Brazil.

Source: BuaNews