Rob Hersov, one of the the two masterminds behind the new Cape Winelands Airport, has already had a slew of inquiries about hangar space at what many hope will become the Lanseria of Cape Town.
The plan, Hersov tells the FM, is to create a thriving commercial airport in the middle of the winelands tourist hub northeast of Durbanville.
Hersov is starting modestly, catering to flying enthusiasts, private planes, charter flights, helicopters and drones. But operations will expand to include commercial aviation and scheduled domestic flights using smaller aircraft. Eventually, says Hersov, the goal is to support Cape Town International Airport by handling bigger aircraft flying domestic, regional and even international routes.
The venture builds on the infrastructure of Fisantekraal airfield, which was constructed for the air force in World War 2. The airfield is still used, mainly for flight training in light aircraft, but neglect has taken a toll.
Now it’s being reconfigured by Hersov and his friend and business partner Nick Ferguson.
They bought the 155ha property from a lawyer and aviation enthusiast who had bought it from the government in 1993.
"This is a forever project," says Hersov, a scion of the family that founded Anglovaal, one of the region’s major mining and industrial companies. "The northern suburbs and the outlying areas see it as a very positive thing."
The Cape Winelands Airport will focus on serving Cape Town’s northern suburbs, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Worcester and the wider winelands district.
It was a rare opportunity for Hersov and Ferguson, partly because obtaining an airport and zoning rights on a greenfield piece of land (unless you’re the government) is practically impossible.
It’s the third business the two friends are building together. Another is Psyence, a "life science biotechnology" business listed on Canada’s stock exchange, which is pioneering the use of natural psilocybin to treat psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
This airport may prove to be the most profitable of all their ventures, however.
"If you live in the northern suburbs you would prefer something closer [than Cape Town International Airport]," says Ferguson.
They’ve commissioned Netherlands Airport Consultants, global experts in planning airports, to guide the project. The consultants have analysed prevailing winds to work out optimal runway configurations and where to locate the main terminal and other buildings.
"It’s about working out in a phased approach where you ultimately want to end up, and breaking that up into bite-size chunks," says Ferguson.
The airport inherited four runways from the original airfield, but only two are in use. Expanding to cater to international flights depends on whether the runways can be made long enough and whether immigration facilities can be set up. So for now, shorter-haul flights are the priority, which seems reasonable given that the pandemic has slashed foreign visitor numbers anyway.
Says Ferguson: "Our focus will be on domestic and regional flights, like Windhoek or Mauritius. In time we will be able to land planes from anywhere in the world, but it will take some time."
A different ballgame
Billionaire Hersov had been living in the US and Europe for 31 years until he returned to SA four years ago. But instead of setting up home in his native Joburg, he opted for Cape Town.
It was his grandfather Bob who co-founded Anglovaal in 1933 with Slip Menell. His father, Basil, ran the company from 1973 to 2001.
Basil, who had been a fighter pilot, is passionate about flying. He still flies, even though he’s turning 95 in August.
"My father flies and owns aircraft. I’ve been in aviation, building and selling aviation businesses in Europe," says Hersov.
One of his previous ventures was Sportal, launched in the 1990s, which hosted a range of sports websites and grew spectacularly until it became a victim of the dot-com bust.
"You learn a lot from failure, probably more than from success," he says.
But what did crystallise for Hersov was the idea that there will always be an affluent class, and those who are in it will use private jets. So he launched Marquis Jet Europe.
Hersov ran the company, a reseller for NetJets — which offers everything from fractional jet ownership to leases — until Warren Buffett called him and said he was going to buy NetJets.
"He called me one day and said: ‘I’m buying your business.’ It wasn’t an offer. He was really the only buyer for that."
Hersov joined the rival VistaJet, where he grew the business and remains an adviser to this day.
So what made him fall in love with aviation? Mainly the business element, he says.
"Most people say you should avoid it, just lie down and let the feeling go away — but I love the business of aviation. It’s one of those businesses that fascinates me. The long-range travel, getting people from A to B; how to build a business that can make money."
It’s counterintuitive since many executives shy away from an industry with so many variables — including fuel prices and passenger demand — you have no control over.
"It’s a difficult business," concedes Hersov, "but there are ways to do it properly."
He regards Marquis Jet as his most significant business success in the aviation sector. "I’m still involved after 20 years. It’s been lucrative."
Ferguson was the one who came up with the idea to buy the Fisantekraal airfield. An accountant and a property developer, his modus operandi has been to take properties and reinvent them.
Since 2000, he has bought properties in Cape Town’s CBD, was intimately involved in rejuvenating Woodstock and built a mixed-use development in Observatory of about 150,000m².
"We’ve done some crazy things, like putting an Airstream caravan on a hotel in Long Street," he says. "We look at creative ways to unlock value in properties and the same would apply to the airport."
But the airport is a different ballgame. Ferguson’s biggest challenge has been bureaucracy and red tape.
"It’s trying to balance the needs of everyone and make everyone happy; it’s not possible," he says.
It’s no coincidence that more than 95% of Fortune 500 companies in the US are within 20km of an airport, says Ferguson.
Building one doesn’t come cheap. Hersov, though, understands finance.
The idea is to bring in third-party investment for the debt and equity funding. Already, says Ferguson, they’ve been approached by infrastructure funds interested in assisting with finance.
"There are big funds out there looking for infrastructure projects, but we are also exploring the options of bringing in a few key private investors," he says.
They’ve had calls from top aviation architects who are keen to get involved; one of them is designing the fifth terminal for Changi Airport in Singapore.
Clearly, they’re sparing no expense. But if the plan succeeds, and the airport becomes half as successful as Lanseria has been up north, it may be their crowning venture.
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