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The Cape Winelands Airport has received environmental authorisation from the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning — a crucial step that allows the project to move into detailed design and implementation planning to mitigate environmental impacts before construction begins. Although the authorisation remains subject to appeal, it marks a major milestone toward the airport’s goal of welcoming travellers by 2028.
Managing Director Deon Cloete described the authorisation as “an important validation of the extensive work and consultation that has gone into ensuring this project meets the highest environmental and community standards.” For years, there have been discussions about developing a secondary international airport near Cape Town International to handle the increasing number of flights and passengers. Post-pandemic tourism growth has amplified the demand, with international airlines expanding routes to the Mother City. Currently, the absence of an alternative airport forces airlines to carry extra fuel for diversions, a challenge not faced in Johannesburg, where both OR Tambo and Lanseria International airports operate.
Situated just outside Durbanville, the Cape Winelands Airport aims to relieve pressure on Cape Town International while enhancing the region’s aviation capacity. The project involves the extensive redevelopment of the former South African Air Force base at Fisantekraal.
Plans for the redevelopment include expanding and realigning the primary runway to 3,500 metres to accommodate international flights. The existing airfield has four runways, with only two actives — measuring 700 m and 900 m respectively. The expansion will be complemented by new taxiways, aircraft parking stands, refuelling systems, cargo facilities, and a modern passenger terminal designed to handle up to 5.2 million passengers annually. Additional infrastructure will include cargo terminals, hangars, a hotel, heliport, warehousing, and logistics zones — creating a fully integrated aviation, industrial, and hospitality precinct.
South Africa’s largest property group, Growthpoint Properties, has partnered with Cape Winelands Airport through an R8 billion investment announced in October. The funding will cover the terminal buildings, runway, and broader developable estate. Growthpoint, which manages assets worth over R155.8 billion locally and internationally — including a 50% stake in the V&A Waterfront — described the project as “the Western Cape’s next-generation aviation, hospitality, and industrial hub.”
The partnership gives Growthpoint the right to co-invest and co-develop the precinct, while assuming long-term property and asset management responsibilities. The airport team will lead aviation strategy and master planning, with Growthpoint contributing institutional capital and development expertise.
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The development is expected to generate approximately 35,000 direct and indirect jobs, with as many as 100,000 jobs created over the first 20 years of construction and operation.
The project will roll out in phases — beginning with runway and safety infrastructure, followed by the passenger terminal and industrial precincts. The airport is projected to begin operations in 2028, with long-term plans to serve over five million passengers annually by 2050.
Spanning more than two decades of phased expansion, the Cape Winelands Airport is poised to become a cornerstone of the Western Cape’s future — strengthening the region’s logistics, trade, and tourism infrastructure while catalysing sustainable economic growth.
