BACKGROUND

The OR Tambo International Airport Master Plan, which was finalised and approved in 2006, proposed a four parallel runway system, with a midfield terminal and cargo complex as the ultimate development framework, capable of accommodating 55 to 60 million passengers per annum. The Master Plan was last reviewed nine years ago and due to changes and developments in the aviation and administrative (government) planning environment, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) decided that the update of the Master Plan was required to guide the future development of OR Tambo International Airport.

OR Tambo International Airport is Africa’s biggest and busiest airport, accommodating approximately 19 million passengers per year.

From its humble beginnings in 1952, the airport has gone through two name changes: Jan Smuts International Airport, 1951, and Johannesburg International Airport, 1994. In 2006, the airport was re-named again to OR Tambo International Airport after the late freedom stalwart, Oliver Reginald Tambo.

This transport hub boasts the key elements required for a world-class airport: location, accessibility, and connectivity. It is ideally situated in the heart of South Africa’s commercial and industrial hub, with excellent road infrastructure linking it to the national road network.

SERVICES RENDERED

ACSA’s aim with the Master Plan update was to focus on external integration and to follow a holistic approach during the planning process. The main objective of the study was to produce an environmentally sensitive, socially and economically balanced, cost effective, and technically feasible Master Plan.

ACSA required a service provider to update the current Master Plan over a period of 24 months. The project was required to be executed in seven phases:

1. Setup
2. Strategic Scan
3. Strategic Planning Objectives
4. Baseline Description
5. Macro Options
6. Preferred Option
7. Detailed Preferred Option.