Times Of Swaziland: E7m per year from passenger service charges at Sikhuphe

E7m per year from passenger service charges at Sikhuphe
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BY MUSA SIMELANE on 14/06/2013 03:35:00


EZULWINI – The Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) has projected
revenue of E7 million per year from passenger service charges at Sikhuphe
International Airport.
This is one of revenue streams by which the new airport will be sustained apart
from government subsidies which will be provided for some time.
The current passenger service charge at Matsapha International Airport is E50
per person, but when Sikhuphe begins to operate the charge will rise to E100.
This will see the revenue doubling from E3.5 million, which is the current range
at Matsapha Airport.
This transpired at a meeting between the Authority and Senators to discuss the
Civil Aviation Authority Regulations of 2012 at the Happy Valley Resort and
Casino yesterday.
Deris Hlophe, SWACAA’s Air Transport Econo-mist, explained that they expected
Sikhuphe to be far busier than Matsapha because it will service global airlines
that carried many people.
The current passenger traffic at Matsapha is around 70 000 per year, whereas the
projected traffic at Sikhuphe was around 300 000 per year.  “Measures of
success we have placed for ourselves include increasing revenue by 25 per cent a
year and also reducing government’s spending on the airport by the same
percentage.
We are also putting in place a strategic plan to attract and retain world air
traffic,” explained Hlophe. Another source of revenue he mentioned was from
increased aircraft landing rates. Currently E310 is charged for landing at
Matsapha airport, and this rakes in revenue of up to E452 000 in one year.  At
Sikhuphe the revenue is projected at E1.1m because to land there an aircraft
will be charged E754.
SWACAA also foresees no less than E46 000 being made per year at Sikhuphe from
parking fees. The parking fee for any aircraft at Matsapha airport is E70, but
it will rise to E137 at Sikhuphe.
SWACAA Director General Solomon Dube, when asked how Sikhuphe would compare to
other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said it
would be by far the cheapest in the region.
“The average passenger service charge in other airports is US$20 (About E200).
We will be charging half of that, so it’s one of the ways we will remain
attractive to other international airlines,” he pointed out.