A new agreement between airports management company Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Germany-based aviation services technology company Munich Airport Group would see the duo leverage each others’ respective skills, knowledge and regional experience to bolster the performance of their airports.

The three-phase strategic sister airport agreement, signed in Sandton, on Monday, unlocked strategic cooperation and information sharing opportunities between the parties, with ACSA eyeing the enhancement of customer services and information technology (IT) and Munich aiming to cement a footprint in Africa.

The partnership with ACSA marked the first agreement that the German group, which operated Munich International Airport, had inked with an airport operator in Africa, said CEO Dr Michael Kerkloh.

Munich International Airport also had sister airport agreements with a number of other international airports, including Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, Changi International Airport, in Singapore, and Beijing Airport, in China.

ACSA operated nine airports in South Africa and one in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and had entered into consulting partnerships with airports companies in Ghana and India.

“There are a number of collaboration opportunities offered by this agreement with Munich Airport Group, especially in new customer service technologies and systems,” ACSA CEO Bongani Maseko said.

Munich International Airport, Germany’s second-busiest airport, was recognised as a centre of excellence in customer service and technology, becoming the first European airport to receive a five-star rating from Skytrax.

“This agreement will usher in robust quality management systems for all aspects of the business, while also strengthening our nonaeronautical services as we evolve to become a world-class airports management business,” he explained.

ACSA aimed to follow Munich International Airport’s lead in diversifying its revenue streams to ensure sustainable capital expenditure (capex) funding as aviation-related revenue continued to decrease.

Munich International Airport currently generated around 50% of its revenue from nonaviation-related activities, such as retail, real estate, hotels, consulting and parking services, to extend revenue streams and ensure sufficient capex for the airport’s operations and expansions.

ACSA aimed to bring its nonaeronautical revenue streams up from the current 38% to 55% within the next five years.

Further, both companies also aimed to support and learn from each other as they embarked on expansion plans.

ACSA planned to extend and align its runway at the Cape Town International Airport and build a second midterm field terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.

Munich International Airport would build a third runway and a midfield terminal in 2016, Kerkloh said.

The parties were now preparing to send teams to each other’s operations as the first phase of the agreement was implemented.

The first phase would focus on knowledge and skills sharing on customer services and management, airport consulting, nonaeronautical revenue stream structures and IT.

The second phase would see teams learn from each other on infrastructure, real estate and human resources, while the third and final phase would ensure knowledge enrichment transfer in airport security, green airports, infrastructure asset management and digitisation and multimedia.