Cape Town’s new Cape Winelands Airport is waiting for the outcome of its final Environmental Application Report, also known as an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which was submitted in May this year.
The decision will determine whether the ambitious project to build Cape Town’s own “Lanseria International Airport” gets the go-ahead.
As reported by IOL, Deon Cloete, Managing Director of Cape Winelands Airport, presented a recent update on the development of a second airport for the city.
Cape Winelands Airport awaits decision on Environmental Approval
Cloete explained that planning for the project has been underway for half a decade. The submission of the EIR in May was a milestone, completed by an environmental practitioner who oversees the application.
“That submission has gone in, and after your submission, the competent authority has a timeline in which they have to make a decision, which is either ‘yes, this project can proceed’ or ‘no, this project can’t proceed’,” Cloete said, as per IOL.
“We hope that decision will be coming through, approximately at the end of next month (October). That decision is a very important one, where we hope to get the green light for this project.” he added.
A multi-billion rand investment
Cloete also revealed that the Cape Winelands Airport team had already engaged with several funders. The initial build is expected to cost between R8 billion and R10 billion.
“Airports are expensive because you put a lot of investment into the ground, but once you get it there, it will work for you for many years. It is about creating it.” he said.
If approvals and funding line up, construction of the new Cape Town airport would take around two years, with Cloete adding that they were probably looking at a 2028 opening.
