Airport outgrows its terminal

A BOTTLENECK of passengers is expected at Walvis Bay airport, whose runway is currently being upgraded to accommodate large cargo and passenger aircraft on international flights.

While the runway upgrade is expected to be completed by March next year, a second project to enlarge the existing terminal building will not start before then. The terminal project is expected to take up to two years and therefore there may be a period of one to two years when the new runway will be used by large planes, but the terminal will not be able to cope with the larger number of passengers arriving on these large aircraft.Besides a major section of the airport dedicated to cargo services – mostly for the export of fish to foreign markets – the airport will also become a stopover for passengers on their way to international destinations.Although this could have a positive impact on local tourism, it may also put strain on the airport while the terminal is being enlarged.The terminal building currently struggles to accommodate 200 passengers at a time, according to airport sources, and may have to handle up to 400 at a time when the project is completed.The N$320 million runway project is financed by the Spanish government.According to Hendrik Kruger of Windhoek Consulting Engineers, the existing runway – which is 2 134 metres long and 30 metres wide – is being extended at both ends to a total length of 3 440 metres and widened to 60 metres to allow large aircraft such as cargo aeroplanes, Boeing 747s and the A380 Airbus to land and take off from there.The length and breadth of the runway will now be suitable for such aircraft to use.The single apron on the current runway will be replaced by wide-bodied aprons for large cargo and passenger craft to park on.Kruger admitted that there might be a bottleneck situation when more passengers come to Walvis Bay on international flights, but said it was just one of the challenges the company may have to face until international flight schedules have been worked out and the new terminal completed.The terminal project, which will be carried out by the Namibian Airports Company, is to triple the size of the terminal, but work on this is only expected to start next year and could take up to two years.This project will cost about N$60 million.”Passenger facilitation may become a problem since the space within the current terminal will be too small to accommodate large groups of arriving and departing passengers,” a source told The Namibian.”The processing of tickets and travel documents is already an arduous task when there are about 200 passengers.It would have been better if the new terminal could have been in operation sooner.”The Namibian tried to contact the General Manager of Operations and Engineering at the Namibia Airports Company in Windhoek, Gregory Lukowski, but he was not available for comment.The terminal project is expected to take up to two years and therefore there may be a period of one to two years when the new runway will be used by large planes, but the terminal will not be able to cope with the larger number of passengers arriving on these large aircraft.Besides a major section of the airport dedicated to cargo services – mostly for the export of fish to foreign markets – the airport will also become a stopover for passengers on their way to international destinations.Although this could have a positive impact on local tourism, it may also put strain on the airport while the terminal is being enlarged.The terminal building currently struggles to accommodate 200 passengers at a time, according to airport sources, and may have to handle up to 400 at a time when the project is completed.The N$320 million runway project is financed by the Spanish government.According to Hendrik Kruger of Windhoek Consulting Engineers, the existing runway – which is 2 134 metres long and 30 metres wide – is being extended at both ends to a total length of 3 440 metres and widened to 60 metres to allow large aircraft such as cargo aeroplanes, Boeing 747s and the A380 Airbus to land and take off from there.The length and breadth of the runway will now be suitable for such aircraft to use.The single apron on the current runway will be replaced by wide-bodied aprons for large cargo and passenger craft to park on.Kruger admitted that there might be a bottleneck situation when more passengers come to Walvis Bay on international flights, but said it was just one of the challenges the company may have to face until international flight schedules have been worked out and the new terminal completed.The terminal project, which will be carried out by the Namibian Airports Company, is to triple the size of the terminal, but work on this is only expected to start next year and could take up to two years.This project will cost about N$60 million.”Passenger facilitation may become a problem since the space within the current terminal will be too small to accommodate large groups of arriving and departing passengers,” a source told The Namibian.”The processing of tickets and travel documents is already an arduous task when there are about 200 passengers.It would have been better if the new terminal could have been in operation sooner.”The Namibian tried to contact the General Manager of Operations and Engineering at the Namibia Airports Company in Windhoek, Gregory Lukowski, but he was not available for comment.