Public-private Partnership Proposed For Plett Airport

A bid proposing a public-private partnership between Bitou Municipality, Cemair and the Hangar Owners' Association, to lease, develop and operate Plettenberg Bay Airport, has been submitted for municipal consideration, Miles van der Molen , CEO of Cemair, told Tourism Update .

This follows the collapse of a previous agreement between airport developer, rsa.AEROs Garden Route Aero and Bitou Municipality. After the deal fell through, the municipality resumed responsibility for the airport and invited new proposals for its operational management and maintenance.

However, its very difficult for an airport like that to be a commercial success, warned Van der Molen. Since the signing of the now defunct rsa.AERO deal, the condition of the runway has deteriorated, vegetation has grown and other maintenance aspects have lagged. The cost of regaining commercial certification continues to grow and, as more time passes, the situation will worsen.

According to Van der Molen, the deal with rsa.AERO fell through because Garden Route Aero and Bitou Municipality could not reach an agreement regarding the funding required for the airports runway repairs and maintenance.

During the dispute, the South African Civil Aviation Authority revoked the airports commercial operating licence due to maintenance backlogs on the airports runway.