Airport management company Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has reported updates on its infrastructure maintenance programme, aimed at providing immediate remedial actions and long-term infrastructure enhancements across the airports it owns and operates, including the OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports.

During a media engagement session on June 19, CEO Mpumi Mpofu highlighted ACSA’s financial recovery from previous losses, noting that by the third quarter of this year, the company had made a profit of over R1-billion before tax.

As previously reported in Engineering News, ACSA returned to profitability in the 2023/24 financial year, recording a profit after tax of R472-million, compared with a loss of R466-million during the prior financial year.

“We're very engaged, we're working, and we have recovered and, more importantly, we are ensuring that our passengers have the best passenger experience that we can afford,” she expressed.

As part of the maintenance programme, ACSA is working to implement short-term remedial actions across its airports.

For airports within the first cluster, namely OR Tambo International and Bram Fischer International, these actions include the refurbishment of ablution facilities, passenger loading bridges, as well as the replacement of people movers, such as escalators.

For the airports in the second cluster – Cape Town International, Kimberley, Upington and George airports – the programme seeks to implement remedial actions such as the replacing and refurbishing of passenger loading bridges, fuel systems and people movers and fire systems.

Cape Town International Airport will also see its terminal roof replaced.

Maintenance among cluster three airports – King Shaka International, King Phalo and Chief David Stuurman International – includes the refurbishing of ablution facilities and air bridges, as well as the installation of airfield parameter lights.

In addition to these remedial actions, ACSA is also implementing major refurbishments across its clusters, which includes the replacement of two 20-inch jet fuel feeder lines at OR Tambo to ensure redundancy and improve system reliability.

“We are reinventing our airports with all of these programs that we've shown here . . . completely new experience for yourselves, the passengers, but more importantly, for stakeholders,” Mpofu said.