World Cup 2010 – Aviation Industry Geared for Take-Off

Time for a special guest post on Just-Football.com now as we extend a warm welcome to Godfrey Pule Selepe, Chairperson of the FIFA 2010 Aviation Task Team in South Africa. With preparations for World Cup 2010 ongoing across all the country’s major industries, Mr. Selepe agreed to give Just-Football.com readers insight into how the aviation industry is preparing to handle the increased demands of staging a World Cup finals.

During May 2005 FIFA, the world soccer governing body selected South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup. South Africa had missed hosting the 2006 event that went to Germany by a single vote. This is the first time that the World Cup tournament will be staged on the African continent. South Africa had dispatched heavy-weights that included president Nelson Mandela, president Mbeki and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Zurich to lobby the FIFA executive. The entire continent of Africa had also thrown its weight behind that bid, making it an African bid. The rallying call was that Africa’s time had arrived.

Many people in Africa are looking at this event to show-case the continent and to help eradicate the unfortunate stereotypes holding back its development. In South Africa, it is anticipated that hosting this event will generate about R24,4 billion from direct, indirect and induced expenditure and a further R7,2 billion from taxes. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the event will create approximately 159 000 jobs. Hosting the World Cup also presents South Africa with a rare opportunity to kick-start some of the key programmes and objectives of government. It is expected that the tournament will leave a lasting legacy in terms of infrastructure and services in areas such as roads and public transport, sports, telecommunications and other important spheres of life.

Following South Africa’s selection as host country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the Department of Transport (DOT) initiated a process of consultation with the transport sector, which culminated in the development and adoption of the 2010 Transport Action Agenda. Through the Action Agenda the transport sector has committed to supporting the successful delivery of the 2010 football event by ensuring the efficient mobility of teams, FIFA Family and spectators.

It is anticipated that unlike during the previous World Cup, Germany 2006, the aviation sector will play a crucial role in the hosting and delivery of a successful tournament in 2010.

It is also generally accepted that whilst South Africa’s aviation sector has coped well with past events, the challenges in respect of both international and domestic air travel during the 2010 World Cup will place unprecedented demands on this sector. The Organising Committee (OC) estimates that approximately 350 000 to 450 000 international spectators will visit South Africa for the World Cup. This translates into approximately 1 285 full wide body aircrafts in one direction.

Soon after the launch of the 2010 Transport Action Agenda in 2006, the Aviation Sub-sector Task Team (ASSTT) was established to develop a framework and coordinate aviation sector operational planning for the World Cup. The ASSTT has brought under one umbrella, various stakeholders working for the successful hosting of World Cup 2010. Participants include regulators and service providers such as airports, airlines, air traffic management and related services. From the outset, it became clear that the need for intense co-ordination and collaboration would extend not only to these key components, but also to the myriad of auxiliary stakeholders such as ground-handlers and fuel suppliers.

Since its inception, the ASSTT has successfully undertaken many activities, including the following: (click to enlarge)


The aviation capability study, conducted by the ASSTT in 2008, gave an overview of available design capacity at the various airports, the anticipated passenger demand at these airports per route, per day, per hour, the levels of airline seat supply and the possible shortfall in terms of both airport infrastructure and air supply. This was a fairly comprehensive study. The aviation sector is currently plugging the gaps that were identified.

The aviation strategy for 2010, developed soon after the capability study, is informed by FIFA requirements and government guarantees relating to civil aviation. It seeks to achieve the following:

• To ensure adequate airport infrastructure and the smooth handling of aircraft, passengers and baggage through the airports.

• To ensure adequate and efficient air transport services to transport spectators to South Africa, to and from World Cup matches and back to their home countries.

• To ensure the safe coordination and efficient movement of aircraft within the South African airspace.

• To ensure that passengers are transported safely according to international standards and expectations.

• To ensure maximum security for air transport passengers during the World Cup.

This strategy has also provided the overall operational planning framework for the aviation sector. Some of the draft operational plans were put to a test during the Confederations Cup in May/June 2009. Although the aviation sector handled this tournament fairly well, it is accepted that the Confederations Cup is too small when compared with the World Cup, and that therefore it has not sufficiently tested the ability and capability of the aviation sector. However, some operational procedures were tested and are being jerked up based on the Confederations Cup experiences.

In line with the understanding that FIFA 2010 is an African World Cup, only staged in South Africa, the African Civil Aviation Conference 2010 was convened in Boksburg, South Africa, during June 2009. The purpose of the conference was to create a platform where participants could explore possibilities for the involvement and participation of the African civil aviation community, particularly airlines. The conference was attended by key stakeholders including the African Civil Aviation Commission, African Airlines Association and numerous airlines on the continent. This forum provided the industry with relevant information by speakers representing organisations involved in the core planning for the World Cup.

At this stage of preparations we are confident that the aviation sector will live up to expectations elucidated in the strategy document. Admittedly, there are still many challenges and loose ends to tie up. But according to our determination, those are not insurmountable. In our preparations:

□ The main air traffic management company has upgraded air navigation infrastructure and has trained additional air traffic controllers for the World Cup.

□ The Airports Company South Africa and other airports operators have carried out massive airport infrastructure upgrades, resulting in an expanded state of the art airport network.

□ Airlines have embarked on elaborate plans, in some cases even trebling their schedules, for the World Cup.

In the next few days the qualifying rounds will be completed and teams which will participate in the World Cup in 2010 will be known. FIFA is scheduled to conduct the draw on the 4th of December 2009.

The process of updating and consolidating operational plans for the aviation sector will be accelerated after the draw with a view to finalising outstanding arrangements by the first quarter of 2010. After that it should be all systems go. And we are confident that the aviation sector in South Africa and the continent, working together with our international partners, will help the country and Africa deliver a memorable World Cup in 2010.

Godfrey Pule Selepe is Chairperson of the FIFA 2010 Aviation Task Team. He writes in his personal capacity.

Aviation, South Africa, World Cup 2010