AFB Ysterplaat rethink

Ysterplaat air base, until recently earmarked for closure has been given a new lease on life.

The air force base is to be used in the short term for President Thabo Mbeki's flights instead of Cape Town International. And if plans go according to schedule, the base will be partially commercialised and converted into a suburban Cape Town airport within the next few months.  If the base were to be closed down, a new VIP reception area would have to be built for Mbeki at the Cape Town airport - an option the airport can ill afford, said air command chief Major-General Tinus Janse van Rensburg.

The air force announced two years ago that the Ysterplaat and Swartkops air bases would be closed down under a rationalisation scheme. "It has since come to light that closing Ysterplaat was not the only option open to the air force and other role players in the aviation industry," said Brigadier-General Temba Ntsibande, director of logistics at air force headquarters. "The air force in fact has to reduce its activities at four Western Cape bases, as they erode the air force capital expenditure budget. "When it was announced that Ysterplaat was liable to close down, all the information was not yet available over the likely implications."

Among the problems is that the De Villiers Graaff Trust, owner of the Ysterplaat base, had set aside the land specifically for aviation activities.

Meanwhile, the air force and other interested parties, including Airport Company and the Cape Metropolitan Council have been negotiating over commercialising the base. The air force will gradually move its facilities from the base, but will probably still utilise the runway, control tower and VIP arrival hall for presidential flights, among others.

Van Rensburg said Mbeki's new trans-continental jet would depart from Cape Town only under extraordinary circumstances. In such cases, it would take off from Cape Town International, since the Ysterplaat runway is too short. For normal domestic flights between Pretoria and Cape Town, Mbeki's current jet will be in use and also Ysterplaat, likely to be named Ysterplaat Airport next year.

"The aim remains to discontinue all military activities at Ysterplaat while other plans for the base are to be submitted by January next year. Similarly, the facilities at the base could be implemented to the advantage of the local community by taking pressure off Cape Town International, offering scope for the activities of smaller aviation companies."

News24