Johannesburg International Airport (JIA), the world-class air transport hub of southern Africa, hosts airlines from all five continents and caters for more than 13 million passengers each year. This airport, ACSA's flagship success story, is the busiest in South Africa – and its passenger traffic has even overtaken that of Cairo.
It's not surprising, then, that JIA, as Africa's premier airport, offers everything a passenger might want on a journey - from the usual necessities such as accommodation, banking and transport, to a chapel and a prayer room, a medical clinic and Internet access.
Many of the airport's impressive features were ushered in with the extensive development of the international and domestic terminals in recent years - such as the R268-million investment in the International Arrivals terminal the duty-free retail mall the 4 000-bay multi-storey parkade the two public transport termini the luxury Airport Sun Inter-Continental Hotel and the new Domestic Terminal.
JIA, then, has changed dramatically in the past few years. One of the airport's greatest successes lies in its commercial transformation. The R210-million duty-free retail mall, for example, has helped JIA increase its net operating income by more than 120% and nowadays more than 100 companies operate from the airport.
But JIA's commercial capacity does not end with retail malls in the terminals: in fact, ACSA's "aerocity" idea extends these business opportunities further than the airports themselves. The company, aware of the special role its airports play in the development of regional economies, is punting JIA as a gateway into the rest of Africa.
Another groundbreaking commercial development is the Johannesburg International Trade Bureau, a permanent exhibition facility that will offer South African exporters unparalleled access to international business visitors and, as a result, to foreign markets.
It's clear that JIA plays an important role in serving Africa’s air transport needs. In doing this, the airport operations are run very tightly - an approach that has made JIA one of the most cost-effective airports in the world, according to a report by the United Kingdom Transportation Research Laboratory in 1999.
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