February 13, 2003
By Sheree Russouw
AFRICA'S busiest airport, Johannesburg International, expects to get even busier. It predicts that the number of its users is set to soar, from12 million to 18 million a year, with the arrival of the airport's new R450 million domestic terminal, which was unveiled on 11 February.
Construction of the state-of-the-art terminal, the biggest in Africa, started in 2000 and is the largest project yet undertaken by the Airports Company SA (Acsa), which manages the country's international airports. The concept is the brainchild of its foreign equity partner, Aeroporti di Roma, which owns 20 percent of Acsa.
"We hope to attract more airlines and more people to the country. This will have benefits for tourism and for the aviation-based industry. Aviation is key to South Africa's transportation network and without adequate transport systems, we can't trade," says Jackie O'Sullivan, the senior communications officer for the airport.
The international terminal has been renamed Terminal A, and the new domestic terminal is known as Terminal B.
The new terminal spans an impressive 80 000 square metres of floor space, and comes complete with inclined travelator ramps, the first on the continent.
The travelators connect the arrival, retail and departure levels, each larger than a rugby field, in the new domestic terminal. Arrivals are on the ground level, shopping is on the middle level, while departures are on the top level. The middle level serves as the main entrance to the building and provides a public walkway that links the multi-storey parkade to the terminal. The parkade has been extended south towards Terminal B with 1 180 new parking bays.
The public walk directly into the new terminal's retail level from the parking area and can then connect to the departures and arrivals levels by using the inclined travelators. The arrival level has a pick-up facility directly outside the terminal, and friends and family wait in the public arrivals hall. The departures level has a drop-off feature directly outside the terminal to ensure speedy access for departing passengers.
While signs are used throughout the terminal, the design of the building aims to encourage a natural movement of passengers and the public "without having to rely heavily on directional signage", says O'Sullivan. The walkways have been carefully designed and directional ramps and sculptured walls help provide a general sense of direction.
This is in line with the latest thinking in airport design, she adds. But it may take some time yet for passengers to get used to navigating the new terminal, and for now airport staff are on hand to direct passengers around the terminal.
The number of check-in counters has doubled to 75 and all airlines will now be using a single software system. "Airlines will still have their own counters, but if they need further counters for whatever reason, additional counters will be assigned to them. This just makes it more flexible," says O'Sullivan.
The new departures hall a few days before the opening
Plane lovers eager to catch a glimpse of aircraft landing and taking off, can now watch the runway activities at the aircraft viewing deck in the departures level. "This is a big drawcard for the public. People often go to the airport with their families and spend hours here and they can now watch the planes," she says.
While it draws its design influences from around the world, the terminal has a distinct African theme. The materials describe the natural African environment, and indigenous wood inlays and local granite were used. While none of the firms have designed airports before, Glen Gallagher, the director of Associated Airport Architects, which is a joint venture by TPC Architects, GAAP Architects, HMV Architects, and Selby Siba Architects, worked on the design with Acsa's internal planning staff and Aeroporti de Roma.
"Experience is not important, but it's the ability to design well. When you hire a firm to do your architecture, it's about how they design, not whether they have done an airport before or not. Whether you design an airport or a hospital, they are both as complex and you learn about it as you go along," Gallagher says.
The terminal is stylish and world-class, says O'Sullivan, and its "openness" contrasts with the older terminal, which was smaller and had low ceilings. "It is absolutely spectacular and like no other airport terminal in South Africa. And it's really important that we had it in time for the Cricket World Cup because a lot of people will be coming to the country now."
Further developments at the airport precinct, which have upped the bill to R750 million, include the creation of a domestic pier. It provides docking space for five airplanes and allows passengers to walk directly from the aircraft into the terminal. O'Sullivan says the pier has the capacity for handling international flights, but is only being used for domestic flights.
The creation of Terminal B is the result of a joint venture between Concor Holdings, Africa Construction, Trencon Construction, Realeka Investments and Dlamini Projects. Forty-two percent of the development of the precinct has gone to empowerment companies.
