Airports are driving a fifth wave of economic development, as the twenty-first century will be essentially an aviation-based economy, with global commercial passenger and air cargo traffic soaring.

Air transport consultancy UBM Aviation airport cities executive VP Alex Kirby said on Wednesday that global commercial passenger traffic would increase from 4.9-billion to about 13.3-billion by 2030, with an average of 36-million people flying each day.

He stated that over one-third of the value of  world trade already moved by air and that air cargo traffic would more than double by 2030.

“The first economic wave came through seaports, many centuries ago, this was followed by river- and canal-based development, railroads, highways and now airports,” Kirby said at a media briefing ahead of the Airports Cities Conference and Exhibition, which Ekurhuleni would host in April next year.

Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, has unveiled plans to establish an aerotropolis, or Africa’s first so-called ‘airport city’.

Kirby pointed out that airports had become business magnets, providing accessibility, speed and agility to global supply chains and high-value perishables.
“Airports today are much more than aviation infrastructures, they are multimodal, multifunctional enterprises that generate considerable commercial development within and well beyond their boundaries.”

Kirby added that rapid commercial development at and around many airports was making them leading urban growth generators, as airport areas became significant employment, shopping, trading and business destinations in their own right.

“The aviation industry in South Africa is undergoing rapid expansion on the growth of business and leisure market travel, which has spurred significant infrastructure development programmes at the country’s major airports.”

“South Africa, being part of the Brics group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, and also being the most developed country in Africa, also offers infrastructure and services to unlock the region’s frontiers; but, Africa’s historic trade and transportation challenges remain as barriers to entry for many logistics providers,” he said.

Also speaking at the briefing, Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality COO Imogen Mashazi said that the aerotropolis concept would assist the metro to assess the market, increase investment into and promote job creation in the metropolitan area.

“This also forms part of the metro’s growth and development strategy for 2055. This would create the framework towards service delivery, which is key to local government. Without a proper framework, proper impacts cannot be made,” she said.

The conference would be held in Africa for the first time in its 11-year existence. It will take place from April 24 to 26.