Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, on Wednesday inspected King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) on its state of readiness with regard to the Covid-19 regulations.
The MEC was joined by KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, the mayor of eThekwini Municipality councillor Mxolisi Kaunda, director-general of the province Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize and a number of King Shaka airport representatives.
Dube-Ncube highlighted the importance of the aviation sector to the redevelopment of South Africa's economy after the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Stats show that around February, air transport and tourism industries in SA supported a total of about 472 000 jobs and contributed about R180-billion to gross domestic product each year,” Dube-Ncube said.
“Fast-forward to the beginning of June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that in SA 252 000 jobs were at risk. They further pointed out that the contribution of the aviation industry to the SA economy could be reduced to R97-billion,” she added.
According to the MEC, without the financial support of the aviation industry, attempts to rebuild the economy would be futile.
“We are here to witness how the airport has been operating since domestic travel was reopened weeks ago by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula.
"In particular, we are interested to know how you have been adhering to the standard operating procedures which were approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA),” said the MEC.
Dube-Ncube also applauded the airport for receiving two prestigious awards.
“Firstly, the Best Regional Airport in Africa, and secondly, the Best Airport Staff in Africa,” she said.
Zikalala said he was pleased with the measures the airport had put into place.
“We can unambiguously state that we are pleased with the safety measures that have been put in place by Acsa (Airports Company South Africa) and its staff,” said Zikalala.
“Regular cleaning of hands and physical distancing are at the core of the national strategy aimed at preventing infections. We are sure that you saw for yourselves that KSIA has embraced this new culture of improved cleanliness with the visible hand sanitisers almost at every turn of the airport,” explained the premier.
Zikalala then echoed Dube-Ncube’s earlier sentiments that the airport was at the centre of rebuilding the economy.
“King Shaka International Airport is the heartbeat of the provincial economy and it is in the national interest to give it oxygen and get it out of the ICU that came as a result of the hard lockdown,” said Zikalala.
“We must work together and succeed with our plans to build the planned globally competitive Durban Aerotropolis, our envisaged city region, which has a potential of creating 750 000 jobs during the implementation phase,” he added.