About Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport (IATA: CPT, ICAO: FACT) is the primary
international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second-busiest
airport in South Africa and fourth-busiest in Africa. Located approximately 20
kilometres (12 mi) from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to
replace Cape Town's previous airport, Wingfield Aerodrome. Cape Town
International Airport is the only airport in the Cape Town metropolitan area
that offers scheduled passenger services. The airport has domestic and
international terminals, linked by a common central terminal.
The airport has direct flights from South Africa's other two main urban areas,
Johannesburg and Durban, as well as flights to smaller centres in South Africa.
Internationally, it has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, the
Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States.
The airport has two terminals linked by the central terminal.
Central Terminal
The terminal building has a split-level design, with departures located on the
upper floors and arrivals in the lower floors; an elevated roadway system
provides vehicular access to both departures and arrivals levels. All check-in
takes place within the Central Terminal Building, which contains 120 check-in
desks and 20 self-service kiosks. Passengers then pass through a consolidated
security screening area before dividing. Passengers flying internationally head
to the northern part of the airport which is the international terminal, and
passengers flying to other parts of South Africa head to the southern part of
the airport to the domestic terminal.
The terminal has 10 air bridges, evenly split between domestic and international
usage. Sections of lower levels of the domestic and international terminals are
used for transporting passengers via bus to and from remotely parked aircraft.
Arriving passengers collect luggage in the old sections of their respective
terminals, before proceeding through new passageways to the new Central Terminal
Building. The terminal contains an automated baggage handling system, capable of
handling 30,000 bags per hour.
Retail outlets are located on the lower (arrivals) level of the terminal at
landside, as well as airside at the departure gates. Retail outlets are diverse,
including foreign exchange services, bookstores, clothing retailers, grocery
stores, souvenir outlets and duty-free in international departures. Restaurants
within the terminal building are located on the upper (3rd) level above the
departures level, which includes what is purported to be the largest Spur
restaurant on the African continent, at 1,080 m2 (11,600 sq ft).
The restaurant level overlooks the airside of the terminal, where a glass
curtain wall separates the patrons from the planes 3 storeys below. On the 4th
floor is where the airport's lounges are situated. The Bidvest, as well as South
African Airways lounges, can be found here.
International Terminal
The international terminal is located on the northern side of the airport.
Customs and Immigration facilities, lounges, duty-free shops, restaurants,
prayer rooms, conference rooms, airline offices, and chapels are located in the
terminal.
Domestic Terminal
Located on the southern side of the airport, it has the same facilities as the
international terminal with exception of Immigration facilities.
Other Facilities
There are two hotels located within the airport precinct, one being Hotel Verde,
a four-star hotel owned by Bon Hotels, ranked as "Africa's greenest hotel", and
the other being Road Lodge, a budget hotel owned by the City Lodge hotel chain
group. An ExecuJet facility is located near the southern end of the main runway
and caters for business jets. The airport also has a MyCiti BRT station, which
connects across the whole of Cape Town including east of Khayelitsha.
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