By Peter Sinkamba
Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) passenger traffic statistics for 2016 have confirmed Green Party’s position that Government’s plans to construct a new ultramodern airport at a whooping cost of US$400 million is a totally wrong decision which is not informed by empirical data.
According to passenger statistics, which were released by ZACL recently, only a paltry 1.6 million passengers transited through the four major airports in Zambia in 2016, of which 1.3 million are international travellers. The combined total for domestic travellers is 275,000. Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport recorded decreased numbers by 5.4 per cent due to a drop in the number of expatriates working in the mining sector. Overall, domestic passenger movements recorded negative growth of 7.2 per cent.
With depressed mining activities projected for the mining sector up to 2030, coupled with the new Labour Act of 2015 which provides for stringent conditions for expatriate labour, it is very unlikely that passenger traffic at Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport will be any better in the foreseeable future to justify the proposed gigantic expansion. Otherwise, the proposed US$400 million airport will just be a white elephant.
Government can better still improve the standards by upgrading the current airport to an ultra-modern international airport at an approximate cost of US$150million since the current location still has room for expansion. The remaining US$250million could then be applied to construct and upgrade airport infrastructure elsewhere in the country.
We believe it could be more beneficial to the country, to increase domestic travellers from the current 275,000 to even surpass international passengers, if US$150 million of the excess funds from the upgrade of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe could be applied to construct new airports in provincial capitals that have none, in particular Chipata, Chinsali and Kabwe. The remainder US$100 million could be used to upgrade existing airport infrastructure at Solwezi, Kasama, Mongu and Mansa airports. It must be a shame that after 52 years of independence, only a quarter of a million out of the 16 million population, can afford to fly, due to proximity to, and poor standards of domestic airports.
We understand that the reason for relocating the airport is because the currently location “is no longer viable because the town is growing economically”. We do not agree with this notion. We are aware that OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town in South Africa, Heathrow in United Kingdom, and other airports around the world are located in the middle of cities, which, compared to Ndola, have witnessed by far more economic growth and expansion, over the years. Yet, these airports have not been relocated. In fact, an attempt by the British Government to shift from Heathrow to London Gatwick, which is away from the city, was a disastrous, experiment. Airports located within the cities are actually drivers of economic growth and support infrastructure development.
Below is a schematic diagram of how the current location can be re-aligned to increase the length of the run way to cater for take-off and landing of any aircraft.
Snkamba, what you are saying wont sink. I sympathise with you. You start first by explaining to them what a priority is. You must start from somewhere, they will not get anything. They might even start telling their cadres to run airports. Ni vibanthu vabwanji ivi kansi
“It must be a shame that after 52 years of independence, only a quarter of a million out of the 16 million population, can afford to fly”
The 275,000 is not a figure that should be attributed to unique local passengers but rather the number of local trips recorded. It could mean 1,000 persons mostly politicians and civil servants each making 275 trips per year on tax payers money! …
If a quarter of a million Zambians could really fly, I think that would have changed the face of local air travel greatly already. Remember that over 13 million Zambians have little or no access to any form motorized transport …
Ba Sinkamba. Please check your facts correctly. OR Tambo and Cape Town Airports are not located within the Cities. That is a blue lie. OR Tambo is located in the industrial park in Boskberg whilst Cape Town is located on N2 towards Stellenbosch wine farming blocks somewhere after one of the notorious black townships of Cape Town. So that information you got is wrong. However, your analysis of costs distribution is well done piece of work. BUT, what does the term called expansion and planning for the future imply? I thought the idea of building better facilities was to attract expansion. This is the same problem we are having with Lusaka City that has become extremely congested with blocked drainage system. Lets expand for onces.
@Nshimbi, I cannot quite surmise the arithmetic you are advancing. If 250,000 passengers per year has several scenarios. It could mean 25,000 passengers making 5 return trips each or 125,000 passengers making one trip, or 250,000 making a one way journey. Tell me, in what way does the last scenario change local air travel greatly?
@Miya. Sinkamba is right. What is the difference between the location of Ndola Airport and OR Airport? Both are in the industrial park, surrounded by notorious townships but within the vicinity of the CBD. Ndola Airport is surrounded by Chilanga Cement, Zambezi Cement (industries), and notorious masala and ndeke townships, and others. Literary, the difference is the same. When the current airport is upgraded, that could indirectly trigger upgrade of the notorious shanty compounds surrounding it.
Zambia in the sun: please check what Sinkamba has said about the location of the two airports. I am not arguing his financial analysis. He says OR Tanbo and Cape Town airports are located in the middle of the city and that is not correct. These two airports are outside the main CBD in Industrial parks and not in the middle of the city. That’s my point.
FIRSTLY, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ZAMBIA HAS AT LEAST TWO STATE-OF-THE-ART AIRPORTS IN LUSAKA AND ONE OF THE COPPERBELT TOWNS/CITIES. ANYONE SAYING THE OPPOSITE IS SIMPLY EMPTY-HEADED. AIRLINES WILL ONLY BE ATTRACTED TO SAFE AIRPORTS WITH MODERN FACILITIES. WITH THIS ATTRACYTION COMES ALONG WITH PASSENGERS FROM DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS. AND THE MORE THE AIRLINES FLY TO ZAMBIA THE MORE COMPETITIVE FAIRS BECOME. THIS COMPETITINESS ALSO COMES WITH AIRLINES DEVELOPING IDEAS OF DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ZAMBIA DUE TO INCREASED PASSENGER VOLUME. IF YOU HAVE NEVER LIVED OVERSEAS, YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE NICETIES OF A DIRECT FLIGHT. RIGHT NOW THE USA OUTERNUMBER TOURIST VOLUME TO ZAMBIA AS COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
HOWEVER, THE CRY BY AMERICAN TOURISTS HAS ALWAYS BEEN, “NON-DIRECT FLIGHT TO ZAMBIA FROM USA”. AMERICANS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WITH THIS CRY- ALL TRAVELLERS TO AND FROM ZAMBIA INCLUDING ZAMBIANS. FRANCE, HAS PROMISED TO HELP ZAMBIA RE-INSTATE THE NATIONAL AIRLINE BY USING THEIR AIRBUS AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING COMPANY. THEY WILL NOT BE VERY MUCH ENCOURAGED TO HELP IF ZAMBIA WILL STILL HAVE POOR ANCIENT AIRPORT FACILITIES IN A NON-COMPETITIVE AIRLINE BUSINESS. SOME OF THE ATTRACTIONS TO DESTINATIONS TO TRAVELLERS ARE EFFICIENT MODERN AIRPORTS AND COMMUTTER PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND SECURITY, ETC. ZAMBIA HASN’T GOT THE FIRST TWO. TO ATTRACT MORE TRAVELLERS ZAMBIA NEEDS TO SERIOUSLY WORK ON THE FIRST 2. BA SINKAMBAA BA FYAMBA SANA. THE MAN SHOULD STOP SMOKING WEED IN HIS BLANKET.
YOU SEE PROBLEM TUKWETE PA ZAMBIA YAKUSABAILA FYE EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE JUST EMMERGED FROM SMOKING WEED. READING THRU’ THE ABOVE/BELOW CONTRIBUTIONS WILL TELL YOU THAT BLOGGERS ARE HAVE WRITTEN TO VENT THEIR ANGER AT ECL OR PF. THEY CAN’T DISCUSS ISSUES. THEY ARE BITTER, ANGRY AND MAD. THIS IS NO ELECTION TIME. IT IS WORKING TIME- USE IT TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE. IN SHORT, ZAMBIA, NEEDS VERY GOOD INTIGRATED ROADS, VERY GOOD TRANSPORT SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS, VERY GOOD COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS TO FIRE UP THE MANUFACTURING, FOOD PROCESSING, FARMING AND TOURISM INDUSTRIES IN ORDER TO EXPORT TEN TIMES WHAT ZAMBIA IS EXPORTING NOW.
@Miya: I get your point. You are right. Sinkamba should have said peripheral or fringes of the cities instead of middle of the cities. Perhaps it is just a matter of semantics, otherwise most airports around the world, Ndola, Cape Town, KKIA, OR Tambo, are on the fringes of the CBD and not too far away from the CBD, as is being proposed of the new location.
@Imwe naimwe Ba Peter, mule ikala fye not ukusbaila ifya mungulu. This is the problem with people that have never smoked weed in their life. Their Cannabinoid receptors, which incidentally are located throughout the body of every human being, fail to make their brain function properly. The conceptual system of such people who have never smoked weed is literally dysfunctional and they suffer from some sort of paranoid schizophrenia. That is the reason why even if the topic under discussion has nothing to do with weed, somehow they bring weed into the conversation…schizophrenia!
Who cheated you that airline operators follow modernity of airports? Airline operators follow passengers. If there are no passengers, even if you have the best airport in the world, no airline operator will…
@Peter. The next issue is your so called “ultra-modern” airport. Who cheated you that a modest airport can not be upgraded to an ultra-modern airport? Don’t you know that OR Tambo, when it was called Jan Smuts Airport in the 1980’s was just a modest airport and upgraded to an ultra-modern airport for the World Cup? Who cheated you that an ultra-modern airport should be a greenfield? Ebwafya bwa paranoid schizophrenia!
On the issue of direct flights, that has nothing to do with ultra-modernity of the international airport but the number of passengers to and from the destination, coupled with the length of the run way and tail-winds and headwinds. Not every plane can fly 14 hours and above non-stop. Hence, most flights from Johannesburg to USA stop-over in Dakar, Senegal and our…
I meant to say our Nkwazi during Zambia Airways days used to fly ‘direct’ to New York via Monorovia, Liberia for re-fueling….
Pointy
Brilliant thinking. This is what opposition must be: criticize constructively, with facts, and provide workable inteligible alternatives. I simply love this man…the man of solutions
Kafwaka ka Chingoni kakali mwe
Infrastructure drives consumption. You can’t expect to grow passengers and cargo freight if you don’t have the prerequisite infrastructure. New airport with the amenities it’s coming with gives Zambia the best change to attract and keep traffic and move cargo. The current airport in Ndola does not have physical land available to land bigger planes or cargo planes. This investment is not for just today; it’s for the next 30 and 40 years as well (forward thinking and looking). This new airport will service this part of copperbelt for many years to Come.
@Peter Hamutale. I don’t quite agree that there is no physical land available. The current location has a runway which is about 2.5 km. From spatial data on the ground, there is still more space to increase the length of the runway by about another 2 km, to bring it to 4 km. For example, the longest OR Tambo International Airport runway measures 4,418 metres. Airbus A300-600R Takeoff distance is 2,280 m and landing is 1,489 m. Boeing 747-300 takeoff distnace 3,322 m and landing is 1,905 m. Boeing 777-300 takeoff distance is 3,703 m and landing 1,844 m. For cargo, the Ilyushin Il-86 Takeoff distance is 3350 m and landing is 2,300 m. Put simply, a 4 km runway is more than sufficient to land any commercial aircraft on earth.
BRILLIANT CONTRIBUTION, PETER HAMUTALE. I TOTALLY, AGREE WITH YOU
Point and please look into it
Ndola needs an ultra modern facility then giants will take note of us,it can even be just a stop over point provided the skies are liberated.Do i need to go to Lusaka to catch a flight into Europe?moreover it will create jobs for our own.
COSTA AND PETER HAMUTALE, I LOVE YOUR OBJECTIVE AND FUTURISTIC THINKING. THE MERE FACT OF A MODERN AIRPORT BEING THERE- EVERYTHING WILL BE REVAMPED AND THERE WILL BE GREATER NEED TO INTRODUCE FAST(MODERN) TRAINS TO CONNECT ALL THE COPPERBELT (CB) TOWNS AND CITIES, INCLUDING SOLWEZI TO THIS AIRPORT. FURTHER, THERE WILL BE NEW ROADS AS WELL AS EXPANDED NEW ONES. THERE WILL BE MORE INCREASED LOCAL AND REGIONAL FLIGHTS AND BUS SERVICES TO THE CB AND OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. OTHERS WILL JUST BE GOING THERE KUCIMPWENA (TOURISM) AND IN THE PROCESS SPEND MONEY, THERE. SINKAMBA AND OTHER BAKAPEPA SHOULD HAVE CONSULTED PRO-FLIGHT (ETC) TO SEE IF THEY ARE UNHAPPY ABOUT THE COMING AIRPORT. I HOPE THE GRZ IS NOT LISTENING TO THESE BARKINGS.
Typical Thinking of those who choose to smoke vegetables instead of cooking them. You have to create an opportunity for business to thrive, don’t wait until some strange country tells you that you must expand the airport. It is this thinking that has left our country impoverished and undeveloped. Look at what we call KKI it is a shame. That airport was built when Zambia had 3 million people today the number has more than quadruped. Those who think in reverse want to wait until Zambia is 55 million before they can expand the airport. Who tells you that Zambians will for ever be condemned to using our esteemed buses only as mode of transport? common come out of you cocoon.
ichongo naiwe kwati pali ifyo ulelanda, ukusapota ichinapofu you even giving fake statistics
Chachine abena Trespho Chitamfya bale sabaila fye, no ukusapota ifyamungulu! No style no quality
Ignorance is a big problem here. It appears most bloggers here do not know that they naturally have cannabis elements in their bodies. Cannabinoid receptors are located throughout the body of every human being. Cannabinoid receptors make your brain to function properly. That which people smoke is complimentary. The conceptual system of people that have never smoked weed is literally dysfunctional and they suffer from some sort of paranoid schizophrenia. That is the reason why even if the topic under discussion has nothing to do with weed, somehow they bring weed into the conversation…schizophrenia! Those of us who have done medicine and psychology understand your physiological and psychological problem……..
If you can’t buy a suit when you are still working, are you going to manage when you are rentrenched or retired? Chibuluma South Mine will be closed in 2021 & CNMC Luanshya Copper Mines is considering filing for bankruptcy. The mining industry is major contributor of revenue to GRZ & if GRZ can’t implement infrastructural development now when it is still earning revenue, how about when revenue dries up. However, Sinkamba’s exercise of choices is crucial in order to determine the opportunity costs foregone in exchange for chosen investments. Only investment choices with highest current & future benefits to the nation should be implemented. Choices should always be discussed by all citizens, GRZ, opposition but not always decided on political reasons alone.
Point @True Zambian
If the local flights were affordable , in the reach of middle income class, I think more people would have been flying and the air companies would be making more profits through high turnover. But the cost of travelling in Zambia is just out of this world and very few can afford
Airline business is through economics of scale. The more is the number of passenger traffik, the cheaper air travel becomes. If Chipata, Chinsali and Kabwe had airports, that would definately increase passenger traffick. One of the reasons why operators do not fly to Kasama, Mongu and Mansa is due to poor airport infrastructure. Improve them then operators will be motivated to go there. Ask yourself, why is it that most bus operators shun the Solwezi route? Poor state of the road. Which private operator would risk his planes to land on poor runways?
Zambia in the sun: Your analysis of good road network attracts buses is exactly what this project of the new airport is trying to achieve: improved airport facilities improve air traffic flow.
@Mwiya: Heathrow Airport, has Terminal 1, then Terminal 2, then Terminal 3, then Terminal 4 and now Terminal 5. Similarly, OR Tambo has undergone massive upgrades compared to what it was when it was called Jan Smuts in the 1980s, with the latest upgrade being in 2010 in readiness for the World Cup. You do not necessarily need to relocate to improve infrastructure. Mind you the mines are in closing mode. If the airport has failed to reach 100,000 passengers per year since 1950, including during the peak of mining in the 1960 and 1970s, what are the chances of reaching 2 million passengers per year in the next 50 years, with the mines closing?
if you have to outlay USD450m capital for an airport it is considered a major acquisition that will require diligent investment planning with a lot of scenarios evaluated. This stupid business of speeding up things just so that in 2021 they SONTA at white elephants to woo votes will not help us. But again even in joburg they no longer mine gold because its finished. They have diversified and still attract millions of passengers. stop crying and get over it. Minerals are not renewable. The copper belt might just transform into manufacturing belt.
@kanyama… good observations but my view is we cannot turn copperbelt into manufacturing hub because we are lacking two important requirements, -1) constant electricity supply… 2) population base to support manufacturing
ie. Enough people with purchasing power to buy the goods.
New airport……..what types of quality public transport do we intend to have
Umwana ashenda (Sinkamba) ateshisha nyina ukunaya. Having such thinking of only today makes Africa not to develope or to have temporary structures. Good luck mama Zambia.
For once I agree with this dagga smoking politician. Ndola airport should have been modernised with a new runway. Then 20 or 30 yrs from now build an international airport where they want to build it and leave the current one as a domestic airport.
Imwe naimwe ba KK Airport Cabinet, bushe mwalilwala ubulwele batila “paranoid schizophrenia”? Limbi tuma cannabinoid receptors are located throughout the body are failing to make your brain to function properly. What has Sinkamba’s post got to do with dagga smoking? Paranoid schizophrenia, atini?
Why are bloggers so obsessed with an airport being located in Ndola? My argument is that the airport should have been located in either Kitwe or Kalulushi. The fact is that Kitwe and Kalulushi are the more centrally located on the Copperbelt than Ndola. If you take Kitwe as an example, almost all the towns on the Copperbelt are equidistant to Kitwe.
Empirical data indisputably reveals is that the average distance to Kitwe or Kalulushi from any part of the Copperbelt is about 40 kilometres. In contrast, the average distance to Ndola from any part of the Copperbelt is 69 kilometres. This should ideally should have given Kitwe or Kalulushi the privilege of hosting an international airport to fairly serve the people of the Copperbelt.
@Maikalange, I totally agree with you to the extent that Kitwe is centrally located. There is no harm upgrading the already existing Kalulushi Airport to international standards and you do not need more than $180 million to do that. So the choices should be $150 million for Ndola upgrade and US$180 million for Kalulushi airport upgrade
The point that must be stressed is that an airport must be located in a place that maximizes convenience to the largest number of people. Locating an airport in a centrally located town like Kitwe and Kalulushi serves this purpose; locating it in a geographically peripheral town like Ndola actually disadvantages the majority of people on the Copperbelt. It must be emphasized that this airport is not meant to serve the population of Ndola but the population of the Copperbelt.
I meant to say: “Empirical data indisputably reveals that the average distance to Kitwe or Kalulushi from any part of the Copperbelt is about 40 kilometres”.
Taking advantage of the mean minded by expounding cost saving obvious options for the mean. Sinkamba aligns his argument along with what the majority people who don’t use airports directly would support. He wants to be a popularist like Sata. But he has forgotten that Sata combined the two schools of thought appropriately.
mr sinkamba, you are looking at past data only. that is good, have yu tried to study the past patterns? are we inreasing or reducing? are you also thinking about the future? it does not always mean when you have not performed well now, then you have to forget about tomorow. think future. you can have such types of airports by 2030, your gandchildren will tease you. THINK FUTURE!
Think future. you canT have such types of airports, as simon mwansa kapwepwe, by 2030, your gandchildren will tease you. THINK FUTURE!
Reply
We’re suffering from the Zesco load Shedding because we didn’t plan for this “future “. They say make hay while the sun shines. We don’t require panicky situations.
For the first time on LT, people are debating constructively, not just politicking. This is what the LT forum should give us, a platform to share ideas so that even those dunderheads in government can learn one or two things. Big up to you guys!
And fittingly, no Buck Teeth Lungu nor NEZ on this thread, who would stick out like a sore thumb on a constructive platform like this one…!
Infrastructure is what we need to attract investment. I have heard of people just travelling to OT airport just to see the airport itself and take pictures. The onus is on us to develop this country through modern infrastructure like the proposed airport. People do not just visit Zambia because of copper mining activities, their is tourism and investment opportunities aside from copper. It may not make sense today, but believe me, in 5 – 10 years, we will all see the benefits and reap the rewards. Economists will talk about the viability and the net present value and analyse using opportunity cost, but it is government’s responsibility to put up infrastructure to spar development. At the same time, it is good that we have a healthy environment were we can debate issue like intellectuals…
Well said….I have always said Zambia has been failed by EDUCATED FÓÓ’LS … They are so theoretical. Only best in talking.
Spot on sir, how I wish there was logical thinking in government development plans today supported by facts on the ground like what you have stated regarding the Kapwepwe airport. It’s like what Lungu said about not building our own electric power stations to continue buying from South Africa or indeed eating a potentially chorela infected street mango on the street and hoping god will cure his if he get sick. It all shows the nincompoop blockhead that characterises the chaps that wield power in our ccorridors of state today. Just look at Chimbwili, Dora, Lungu, Luo etc, do you honestly think this country can develop with these nincompoop chimpanzees in power?
Many sides and viable opinions can be deduced from Mr Sinkamba ‘s analysis, and to me , the man is up for a better Zambia and does always want to give economically sound advice. He doesn’t talk war like some political leaders. Thumbs up sir, You are exorbitantly useful !
Weed is very bad. It clouds ability to plan, think and forecast! What a useless leader!
Imwe naimwe Ba Sharon, muleikala fye. We is very bad? Dont you know that you yourself you have cannabinoid (weed) naturally receptors are located throughout the body? Don’t you know that the receptors are the ones that make your brain to function properly? You must be another “paranoid schizophrenia” patient or something like that!
Investing in infrastructure with the future in mind is a good thing. However, we should be mindful of how much money we can reasonably afford to throw into such projects. Everyone here has a point. But people like me that fly to Ndola every now and then can tell you that we fear for the futures of the current airlines. Sometimes the number of passengers are so few that you can propose to the hostess and dump her mid flight without anyone noticing. The idea of relocating is a fantastic one, but, maybe we need to use SOME of that money to stimulate real/actual economic activity first.
Brilliant ideas by Zambia in the sun and his freind, now tell me how do you feel having a dull president?
Brilliant ideas by Zambia in the sun and his freind, now tell me how do you feel having a dull president? who can not interprate a consititution he signed himself when he claims to be a lawyer