VIP terminals of Africa: from Marrakesh to Cape Town

The catalogue holds 18 objects in the region: business aviation terminals, FBOs and VIP lounges in 16 cities. Below are the ones that set the level of service in the region, and a short map of the rest.

Fireblade Aviation

Johannesburg, South Africa · O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) · standalone complex

Photo: Bile rene, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A private business aviation terminal opened in September 2014; construction cost about 165 million rand (some 15 million dollars). The complex stands on the Denel site on the far side of the runways from the main passenger terminals and includes its own apron and two hangars: 3 500 m² for its own fleet and 13 000 m² (K8) for parking and servicing clients' aircraft. On the terminal's lower floor is its own customs and passport control post with direct access to the apron, and above are waiting lounges, meeting rooms, a terrace and a boutique. The terminal has accepted international flights since February 2018; control is carried out by officers of South Africa's home affairs, revenue and police services. It is the first and only full-format FBO at Johannesburg's main airport, combining FBO services, maintenance and its own air operator certificate.

Lanseria International Airport

Johannesburg, South Africa · Lanseria International Airport (HLA) · standalone complex

Photo: Public domain

A fully private international airport north-west of Johannesburg, the region's principal business aviation hub. The 3 047 m runway with ILS CAT I accepts aircraft up to the Boeing 757-300; the control tower works round the clock and a customs and border post operates on site. Several FBOs work on the site: ExecuJet (5 000 m² of hangars and 7 000 m² of apron, Africa's first FBO with IS-BAH accreditation, in 2015), NAC, MH Aviation Services and others. VIP lounges with showers, bars and business centres complement hangar parking and Jet A-1 fuelling. ExecuJet was itself historically founded here, in 1991.

ExecuJet Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa · Cape Town International Airport (CPT) · standalone complex

Photo: Public domain

A purpose-built FBO complex on Tower Road, running parallel to the main runway. It includes 5 000 m² of hangars and 7 000 m² of its own apron for aircraft parking. The terminal has VIP lounges for passengers, a meeting room, crew rest and briefing rooms and showers; staff assist with customs and passport control. It works on weekdays from 06:00 to 18:00, with round-the-clock service on request. It is regarded as one of the best-equipped FBOs in Africa, and handling for presidential and diplomatic flights is arranged here.

Quits Aviation Services Free Zone (ExecuJet Lagos FBO)

Lagos, Nigeria · Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) · standalone complex

Photo: neajjean, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

A business aviation campus in Nigeria's first aviation free trade zone on the site of Murtala Muhammed airport. The Quits Aviation Centre includes Hangar One, a business jet apron and a VIP terminal; passenger handling and ground handling are provided round the clock by ExecuJet Aviation Nigeria. Since 2023 the Nigeria Customs Service free zone command has worked directly in the zone, so clearance of cargo and aircraft spares takes place on site. Residents of the complex also carry out line maintenance on business jets. The founder and head of Quits Aviation Services is the entrepreneur Sam Iwuajoku.

EAN Jet Centre — Evergreen Apple Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria · Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) · standalone complex

Photo: neajjean, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

A private FBO complex on the site of Murtala Muhammed airport; the company calls it Nigeria's first fully integrated FBO with a hangar. It comprises a VIP terminal with a lounge, a business jet hangar, lettable offices and its own in-flight catering restaurant, Wings. The maintenance organisation is approved by the Nigerian civil aviation authority (NCAA); the group also handles aircraft sales, management and charter. The complex is located on FAAN Transit Camp Road beside the Lagos international terminal.

Phoenix Aviation

Nairobi, Kenya · Wilson Airport (WIL) · standalone complex

Photo: flightlog, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the principal FBOs at Wilson airport, Kenya's main general aviation site, a few minutes from central Nairobi. The company has worked since 1994 and the base occupies hangars 19 and 20 on Langata Road: a passenger lounge, aircraft parking, assistance with customs and passport clearance, and ground handling. Phoenix operates charter and VIP flights across Africa, the Indian Ocean islands and to Europe, runs air ambulance work with EURAMI accreditation, and maintains its own maintenance division. The flagship of the fleet is a 10-seat Cessna Citation Sovereign business jet.

Jetex Abidjan FBO

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire · Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) · standalone building

Photo: Fawaz.tairou, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The first and only FBO at Félix Houphouët-Boigny airport, the flagship of the Jetex network in West Africa. The avant-garde terminal building is surrounded by gardens; inside are an executive lounge, a separate crew lounge with showers and two bedrooms for rest between flights. In front of the terminal is its own apron with stands allowing aircraft to manoeuvre under their own power, which speeds up the return departure; customs and passport control take place in the building itself. The complex works round the clock and also receives first-class passengers from scheduled flights. The Plateau business district is about 15 minutes away by car.

Bole Airport VIP terminal

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) · standalone building

A dedicated VIP/CIP terminal at Ethiopia's main airport for state delegations, the diplomatic corps and business aviation passengers; Addis Ababa hosts African Union summits, and the terminal serves as the hall for official delegations. It has its own passport and customs control, meeting rooms, rest rooms and showers, and works round the clock. A separate driveway with its own car park leads to the terminal. Handling for business aviation flights in Addis Ababa is provided by local providers, including Krimson Aviation.

Other objects in the region

The whole series

Africa takes eighteen of the catalogue's 308 places — modest for a continent of this size, which makes the map of sites matter more here than in the crowded regions. The ExecuJet, Jetex and Bestfly networks turn up here more often than any others and work far beyond Africa; how they are spread across the world, along with the formats of accommodation and the service standards, is set out in the summary article VIP terminals of business aviation worldwide.

How to use this

The format of the site at the destination is settled before the flight is booked. The regional catalogue shows where a private flight has a fallback: Johannesburg holds two business aviation airports — O. R. Tambo with Fireblade, and the entirely private Lanseria — and Lagos has two neighbouring campuses on one airfield. In Nairobi, Abidjan, Addis Ababa and Cairo there is a single object, and cities absent from the catalogue altogether leave the aircraft in the common passenger flow. Of the region's eighteen entries, six are standalone complexes with their own apron, nine are standalone buildings and three are lounges inside the main terminal.

In a region with a map this thin the first thing I count is the alternate aerodromes. They are kept under watch along the whole route: an "hour" alternate lies within an hour's flight of any point of the route. That hour of flying can end here at an airfield with no business aviation terminal at all, and the day then finishes in the common passenger flow whatever the main site offers.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.