Johannesburg - Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has noted various comments in weekend media attributed to the CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Mr Giovanni Bisignani. Notably, Mr Bisignani reportedly claims that:
1. ACSA's proposed tariffs will hamper creation of jobs;
2. The proposal will make ACSA’s tariffs, particularly O.R. Tambo International’s, to be the highest in the world;
3. The basis of ACSA’s tariff application is poor financial performance during previous regulatory period; and
4. ACSA has built infrastructure the industry did not want;
ACSA empathises with the challenge of having to apply for the inevitable tariff adjustment that could have been avoided. It has always been our position that a predictable, fair and transparent economic framework is critical for the sustainability of the aviation industry.
As a result, it should be noted that ACSA had proposed a different approach in terms of which the tariffs would have been smoothed over a period of time to avoid major increases during periods of high investments. Unfortunately, a decision was taken to delay a tariff recovery until the infrastructure was in use. The 2010-2015 tariff application is a reflection of the completed infrastructure.
Clearly Mr Bisignani is being misinformed when he alleges that ACSA’s tariff application is due to poor financial performance.
Further, ACSA’s economic regulator appointed an international, independent consultancy firm Mott-MacDonald to review ACSA's infrastructure development programme. In essence, Mott-MacDonald confirmed the appropriateness of ACSA's infrastructure development programme. Mott-MacDonald also noted the socio-economic benefits of these developments, in particular, in terms of job creation. Planned future developments as a result of passenger and cargo growth to result in the creation of some 150 000 new jobs over the next 10 years.
Despite ACSA’s tariff application, an independent study has shown that ACSA’s tariffs will remain competitive going forward.
ACSA is fully supportive of the Minister of Transport’s view that the industry's economic regulation policy requires a review and we will continue to contribute in the development thereof.
For more information, contact:
Solomon Makgale on 082 781 8863
