The company behind the Cape Winelands Airport, rsa.AERO has aspirations to become a network airport operator, securing the lease for Plettenberg Bay Airport, and acquiring an airport at Gariep Dam in the Free State. The company is also “putting its hat in the ring” to manage the Pilanesberg Airport. 

Speaking on a panel at the Meet Stellenbosch conference held last week, Deon Cloete, managing director of the Cape Winelands Airport and executive director of rsa.AERO said while the Cape Winelands Airport would be the group's central airport, “we actually have aspirations to be a network operator”.

The Cape Winelands Airport is currently in planning stages, with phase one operations targeted to begin in 2027. Cloete said Environmental Impact Assesment (EIA) processes were currently underway, with public consultations envisioned for the remainder of the year. The group is targeting approvals by next year, with a two-year building process.

By 2050, the airport is expected to process about 25% of air traffic into Cape Town. It will also support agriculture and industry, with rail links to the Cape Town and Saldanha ports.

Rsa.AERO is comprised of heavy hitters in the property, investment and aviation industries, led by Nick Ferguson. Ferguson was also the developer behind Cape Town's Old Biscuit Mill and the Old Mac Daddy luxury trailer park.

Earlier this year, the rsa.AERO group also won the tender to lease, develop and operate Plettenberg Bay Airport, under the name Garden Route Aero.

Cloete said the group had also acquired an airport close to the Gariep Dam with the plan to develop it for adventure aviation activities such as microlight flights and hot air ballooning.

Earlier this year, the North West Province put out a request for proposals for “investments in and around” the Pilanesberg Airport, and Cloete said that the group had “put our hat in the ring”.

He said the group would also “love to have a Kalahari Aero and a West Coast Aero” in the stable. And while they had not yet explored options, he said the group could also look across borders into Southern Africa and the rest of the continent.

This all forms part of a vision to create “niche products, linkages and services that we think will become very popular”.

“If you fly to Cape Town and come and spend a week in Stellenbosch, you must have the option of going to the Garden Route and from there, to the likes of Sun City, Pilanesberg and even Victoria Falls and back again before you go back to Europe,” he said.

Cloete said more airports would make flying more affordable, providing better access to a safer form of transport for more South Africans.

“It's so sad to hear about municipal airports that have been so neglected that they eventually lose their licences and become totally dysfunctional. That doesn't need to happen - with the right type of mindset and skills, you can make those airports viable, profitable and importantly, get more people to fly,” he said.