If it’s true that airports drive growth, KwaZulu- Natal is surely set on a strong upward economic path. King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), which was officially opened in May 2010, is one of only five major airfields built around the world in the last decade.

The lengthy construction process of KSIA brought many benefits to the provincial economy. According to a survey conducted by IHS Global Insight (November 2009), the building of the airport and surrounding infrastructure made an impact of R8.3-billion on South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). Sixty-two percent of that (about R5.3-billion) was felt in KwaZulu-Natal with the construction industry obviously benefiting the most (R3.1-billion). Other sectors to receive significant boosts were manufacturing, transport, financial and community services.

Tourism and freight are the two main sectors that will benefit from the facility that has been built north of Durban and replaces the old Durban airport to the south of the city. The precinct is bounded on the west by the railway line between Durban and Richards Bay and by the N2 highway to the east. KSIA is run by Airports Company South Africa.

While the airport itself – and its sophisticated freight-handling facilities in particular – will boost the province’s economy, it is the associated Dube Tradeport concept that aims to leverage far greater development and economic growth from the new airport.

Dube Tradeport (DTP) is a public entity owned by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government. One aim of DTP is to establish an ‘aerotropolis’ in the vicinity of KSIA. This city would encompass the ancillary services that one would expect at an airport but also feature office parks, commercial entities, hotels and retail developments. DTP has started the ball rolling with the construction of its own headquarters (branded as 29 Degrees South), which will be followed by a hotel, entertainment and retail complex. In time, the idea is to convert the 12-hectare site into ‘Dube City’.

The components of the DTP that are already functional are:
• Dube City (commercial property): the first phase is the DTP headquarters and developers have been invited to pursue further projects. These include retail, offices, restaurants and medical facilities.
• Dube TradeZone: This is an area designed to cater for logistics, assembly, warehousing, light manufacturing and processing. It will also have a commercial node.

An overhead conveyor system, one of very few in the world, was installed in the warehouse in the course of 2011, helping to improve cargo security and movement between the cargo terminal and the TradeZone. A Valuable Cargo Facility and a twenty-foot-container facility are other features of the zone. Automotive component manufacturers are among the sectors that are expected to take up sites within the TradeZone.

Dube Cargo terminal: This sophisticated terminal is already functioning. A single handler, Worldwide Flight Services, sees to the logistics of the terminal, which is linked to the airport and the TradeZone. There are 13 000 square metres of warehouse floor space and a further office component of 2 000 square metres. Annual capacity is 100 000 metric tons. An in-house border police unit allows for fast administration. Between May 2010 and February 2011, the terminal handed 6 300 tons of cargo. Exports were valued at R180-million and imports were valued at about R60-million.

Among the cargo moved were five black rhinos destined for Zambia. This difficult task was accomplished in partnership with South African National Parks (SANParks) and the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS). DTP and Worldwide Flight Services are planning to build a full-scale border inspection post for live animals at the cargo terminal. This will be very useful for the racehorse and polo sectors.

Further developments in the pipeline for the DTP are:
• Dube Agrizone: research, facilities and services to stimulate the growth of the provincial perishables sector
• Dube iConnect: ICT services to businesses operating within the DTP

Because the master plan is being executed on a greenfield site surrounded by a largely undeveloped area, there are opportunities to plan in a way that best exploits the location of the airport.

DTP has announced the principles underpinning its land-use decisions in the area. These are to:
• grow freight and improve logistics and multimodal port functions
• grow the number of domestic and international passengers (business and tourist)
• increase connectivity and integration
• develop integrated living, working and recreational environments
• promote sustainable development.