Car rental company Avis Rent a Car (Avis) has won the tender from Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) for prime kiosk positions at the nine State-owned and Acsa-controlled airports for five years, including additional space for car rental kiosks and parking.

Avis CE Wayne Duvenage says that this includes Acsa providing the company with additional space at OR Tambo International Airpor and the com- pany’s kiosk has increased from about 146 m2 to 424 m2. This has necessitated a R5-million revamp to create a new kiosk that is aimed at service delivery.

The first phase of the OR Tambo kiosk revamp was completed in August and included building one side of the kiosk. The second phase, which has also been com- pleted, included converting the old kiosk to the same level and standard of the new kiosk. The third phase will take place in November when a bank kiosk, which currently separates the two kiosks, is removed and the two kiosks are joined to form one large kiosk.

Duvenage explains that the refurbishment included stripping and building new counters, ceilings, tiling and constructing an admini- stration centre, which was located away from the kiosk in the past owing to space constraints. The kiosk now has more management space and, more importantly, more customer space. The company has been able to split the kiosk to better service the different segments, resulting in express and preferred corporate customers now having a bigger area, as well as the inclusion of a paraplegic counter, which did not exist before.

Duvenage says that the benefits of the new kiosk include more space to install more terminals, which results in shorter customer queuing times. Avis has also more than doubled the amount of parking bays, which was desperately needed. This has enabled efficiencies and also helped to eliminate queues.

“The refurbishment has gone smoothly – building in and around kiosks is always a mess, but it was well planned and timed. We envisage the OR Tambo kiosk to be a flagship for Avis on an international basis,” he says.

Meanwhile, the company is also upgrading its facilities at Cape Town International Airport. Duvenage says that Avis has just completed the 5-ha development of its Cape Town turnaround depot. The facility cost about R90-million and is a purpose-made development for car rental, incorporating the latest vehicle flow design to create a highly efficient vehicle preparation centre. It is also the regional head office for the Western Cape.

The depot includes a workshop, a panel shop and a regional office. It also houses Avis’s other brands, such as Avis Point to Point, Avis Luxury Cars and Avis Chauffeur Drive. All cars are housed at the depot, as well as serviced, refuelled and washed. He says that every car is put through a 25-point check for safety, washed and repaired after each use.

Cape Town will also receive a new kiosk facility. Duvenage says that all the car rental companies are moving to a purpose-made car rental facility and Avis envisages the new kiosk to be running by May next year. The new kiosk will have additional counter space, a larger customer area and shorter queues.

Avis is also focused on the environment and aims to recycle about 80% of the water that is used at the Cape Town depot car wash. He points out that the water recycling plant at the depot should recycle about 40-million litres of water a year and the company has also installed a 180 000-∙ underground reser- voir to capture rainwater.

“In winter, we envisage that the Cape Town operation will become almost water neutral, only using recycled and collected water, which is exciting,” says Duvenage.

He adds that water recycling plants have been installed in Johannesburg and will also be built at the new airport at La Mercy, north of Durban. He points out that, in total, Avis car-wash facilities at its significant depots should recycle in excess of 100-million litres of water a year.

“Water recycling has long-term benefits. Water is a really scarce resource in South Africa and Avis is the only car rental company that has spent about R2-million on water recycling plants at three depots,” Duvenage comments.

Further, Avis has been working with Acsa at the new airport at La Mercy and has designed new kiosks that should be completed in May next year. He says that the company is being pressurised by the time constraint to have its depot built by May, as the land was only given to the company in October. This has resulted in the depot, which usually takes a year to build, having to be built in six months. However, Duvenage is confident that it should be completed in time.

The depot at the new airport will include a turnaround facility on 3 ha of land, which will be purpose- built with a water recycling plant, workshops, a panel shop, vehicle storage facilities and a car sales area.

He adds that Avis has invested in facility expansions and upgrades throughout the country at airports, as well as other main centres, such as Sandton, Pretoria and Menlyn. It has also expanded its airport facilities in Port Elizabeth, East London, Bloemfontein and Kimberley.

“Avis has expended about R250-million over the past three years in gearing up for the future. This includes car rental, tourism and transport growth in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is a peg in the sand, but the expansions are to cater for growth for the next decade,” concludes Duvenage.