OR Tambo International Airport

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OR Tambo International Airport
Johannesburg International Airport[1]
IATA: JNB - ICAO: FAJS
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Airports Company South Africa
Serves Johannesburg
Elevation AMSL 5,558 ft (1,694 m)
Coordinates 26°08′21″S, 028°14′46″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03L/21R 14,495 4,418 Asphalt
03R/21L 11,155 3,400 Asphalt

OR Tambo International Airport (IATA: JNB, ICAO: FAJS) is a large airport near the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and is Africa's busiest airport, handling over 16 million passengers in 2005. The airport is the hub of South Africa's largest international and domestic carrier, South African Airways (SAA), and a number of smaller local airlines.

It was formerly officially known as Johannesburg International Airport and before that as Jan Smuts International Airport (explaining the airport's ICAO code, FAJS[citation needed]) after the South African statesman of that name. The first renaming was done in 1994 when the newly reformed South African government implemented a national policy of not naming airports after politicians.

It was renamed again on 27 October 2006 after Oliver Tambo, the former President of the African National Congress (ANC)[2].

The airport is currently given a rating of three stars by Skytrax's airport grading exercise along with seven other airports.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

A statue of Oliver Tambo at the OR Tambo International Airport.
A statue of Oliver Tambo at the OR Tambo International Airport.

The airport was founded in 1952 as "Jan Smuts Airport", two years after his death, near the town of Kempton Park on the East Rand. It displaced the "Palmietfontein International Airport", which had handled European flights since 1945. In the same year of its inception, it had the honourable distinction of ushering in the jet age, when the first commercial flight of a de Havilland Comet took off from London Heathrow Airport bound for Johannesburg.

OR Tambo International Airport was used as a test airport for the Concorde during the 1970s, to determine how the aircraft would perform while taking off and landing at high altitude. During the 1980s many countries stopped trading with South Africa because of the United Nation sanctions imposed against South Africa in the struggle against apartheid, and many airlines had to stop flying to the airport. These sanctions resulted in South African Airways being refused rights to fly over most African countries, and in addition to this the risk of flying over some African countries was emphasised by the shooting down of a passenger aircraft over Rhodesia [4], forcing them to fly around the "bulge" of Africa. This required specially-modified aircraft like the Boeing 747-SP. Following the ending of apartheid, the airport's name, and that of other international airports in South Africa, were changed to politically-neutral names and these restrictions were discontinued.

The airport overtook Cairo International Airport in 1996 as the busiest airport in Africa, and is the second-busiest airport in the Africa-Middle East region after Dubai International Airport. By March 2006, the airport had already handled 16.1 million passengers, which is an 11% increase over the same period in 2005. There are expected to be over 21 million passengers per year by 2010[5]. The airport is one of the 100 busiest in the world[6].

On 26 November 2006, the airport became the first in Africa to host the Airbus A380. The aircraft landed in Johannesburg on its way to Sydney via the South Pole on a test flight.

[edit] Airport information

OR Tambo International Airport is regarded as a "hot and high" airport. Situated almost 1700 metres (5,500 feet) above mean sea level, the air is thin. This has implications for the performance of aircraft at altitude. For example, a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, D.C., currently operated with an Airbus A340-600, must stop in Dakar International Airport for refuelling, since the aircraft is not able to make the run on one fuel fill. This is because of decreased performance on take-off from the airport, where an aircraft cannot take off fully laden with fuel, cargo, and passengers, and must use a longer stretch of runway to reach take-off velocity. By contrast, the return leg of the flight from Washington to Johannesburg is a non-stop 14-hour flight, with better performance of the aircraft at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington where the city is at sea level. The Washington-Johannesburg flight is the second-longest commercial flight in the world in 2006. As SAA sees a market in West Africa, some flights to/from the United States now go via Dakar, Senegal, even in the US-to-South Africa direction.

There are two parallel runways, which run north-south, and a disused cross runway. The western runway, 03L/21R, is over 4400 m (14,000 ft) in length, making it one of the world's longest international airport runways. This is due to the aforementioned rarefied atmosphere problem - fully laden aircraft require a far greater length of runway to achieve take-off velocity at this altitude than they would normally.

During busy periods, outbound flights use the western runway for take-off, while inbound flights use the eastern runway for landing. Wind factors may cause numerous variations, but on most days flights will take off to the north and land from the south.

There are six terminals at the airport, but these can be broken down into three major areas: the international terminal; the domestic terminal; and the transit terminal. The transit terminal housed disused parts of the old domestic terminals. It has been mostly demolished in order to build a new Central Terminal, which will provide an indoor link between domestic and international terminals, as well as a central passenger check-in area and more gates.

OR Tambo International Airport also serves as grounds for the South African Airways Museum, a room filled with South African Airways memorabilia and which started as an idea by two fans of the airline until they could set it up in one of Jan Smuts International's buildings in 1987.

Delta Air Lines commenced service from Atlanta, Georgia to Johannesburg (via Dakar) effective December 4, 2006, making Delta the only major US carrier to serve Africa. South African Airways already operates two daily flights to the US, one each to Washington Dulles and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport instituting another route to O'Hare International Airport in May 2007.

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited will be operating direct flights on the route Bangkok – Johannesburg three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. They will be utilizing Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, effective as of 31 October 2006 onwards, and the flying time is expected to be 11 hours flying and will accommodate 292 seats (30 Royal Silk Class and 262 Economy class).

[edit] Developments

Inside the OR Tambo International Airport.
Inside the OR Tambo International Airport.

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) reports that major new development is taking place at the airport, in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The development includes the expansion of the international terminal, with the new international pier which will be able to house the new Airbus A380 while also increasing capacity at the same time. A new Central Terminal building is under construction. An additional multi-storey parkade is being built at a cost of R470 million opposite the Central Terminal Building, plus Terminal A is also being upgarded and the associated roadways realligned to accommodate more International Departures space.

The Central Terminal Building (cost: R2 billion) will boost capacity at the landside of the terminal in 3 levels, also allowing direct access from international and domestic terminals. Additional luggage carousels will be added to accommodate the Airbus A380. Arrivals will be accommodated on level 1, with departures expanded on level 3, level 2 will accommodate further retail and commercial activities. The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link station will be housed above the terminal.

The new International Pier development (cost: R535 million) will increase international arrivals and departures capacity in a double storey structure with nine additional airside contact stands, four of which are Airbus A380 compatible. Air bridges are already in place and the existing duty-free mall will be extended into this area. Additional lounges and passenger holding areas will be constructed on the upper level.

The new international pier and the upgraded central terminal are both expected to be ready by 2009. A second terminal between the two runways has also been mooted, which is proposed for completion by 2012. It will contain its own domestic and international check-in facilities, contact stands, shops and lounges and is projected to cost R8 billion to complete. Growth at the airport is expected to reach 24 million passengers per annum by 2015.

The airport is likely to see the arrival of the new Airbus A380 in its first years of service, as Airbus has already listed the airport as one of the few destinations worldwide capable of handling the aircraft, and also because many international airlines operate long-haul routes to Johannesburg. For example, there are at least seven daily flights from London, most making use of Boeing 747-400s.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Cargo

[edit] Renaming

In late 2005, a name change was proposed for the airport to "O.R. Tambo International", after former ANC President and anti-apartheid activist Oliver Tambo, an apparent change to the precedent of neutrally-named airports. The name change was formally announced in the Government Gazette of South Africa on 30 June 2006, allowing a 30-day window for the public to register objections. The name change was implemented on 27 October 2006 with the unveiling of new signs at the airport.

Critics noted the considerable expense involved in renaming the airport, and the decision to use a politician as the name would be obscure, confusing and in some instances, offensive. Corne Mulder of the Freedom Front Plus has stamped the renaming "nothing less than political opportunism and attempts by the ANC government to dodge the true socio-economic issues of the country"[9].

It appears as though the South African government have departed from their airport naming policy because it was recently announced that a new airport to known as the King Shaka International Airport is to be constructed in KwaZulu-Natal.

O.R. Tambo is also a regional municipality in the Eastern Cape, seated in Mthatha. It has an International Airport which is known as the K.D. Matanzima Airport or (Mthatha Airport), named after Kaiser Matanzima.

[edit] Rail transit

A new transit terminal between the domestic and international terminals is currently being built, which will also house the Gautrain station linking the airport to Sandton, one of the metropolitan area's main business districts and a primary tourist area.

In September of 2006 Gauteng Province contracted Bombardier Transportation for a rail link connecting Johannesburg, Tshwane, and the airport, with construction to begin immediately.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ World Aero Data airport information for FAJS
  2. ^ "OR Tambo now official", News24, 2006-10-27. Retrieved on October 27, 2006.
  3. ^ Airport Star Ranking - 3 Star Airports. Skytrax (2007). Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
  4. ^ Details p of Air Rhodesia Flight RH825. Viscount Disasters. Retrieved on November 12, 2006.
  5. ^ [1] Airport-Technology.com
  6. ^ [2] Airliner World Magazine, October 2006 issue
  7. ^ http://www.flyglobespan.com/ZA/UKflights.asp?OutDepAir=JNB&OutArrAir=MAN&Class=E&Frame=Top
  8. ^ http://www.oceanairlines.com/pagine/destinations.htm
  9. ^ Wolmarans, Riaan. "Welcome to OR Tambo Airport", Mail&Guardian, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on September 22, 2006.
  10. ^ Grant, Tavia. "Bombardier wins $1.65-billion in contracts", The Globe and Mail, 2006-09-28.

[edit] External links

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