Staff at the ExecuJet Aviation FBO at Johannesburg’s Lanseria Airport have been working around the clock to handle the influx of corporate and VIP traffic drawn to South Africa for the soccer World Cup, which concludes on July 11. As of June 21, the facility had handled 169 movements since the start of the tournament on June 11, including 27 head-of-state aircraft, as well as the U.S. Air Force Two jet carrying Vice President Joe Biden, and the four C-17 support aircraft. Another high-profile arrival was John Travolta, who flew his own Boeing 707 to Lanseria and staged a press conference in the ExecuJet lounge.

ExecuJet has recruited 15 experienced temporary staff to support the 24/7 operations at Lanseria. As of press time, the facility was set to receive 163 separate aircraft and some 350 movements during the month-long tournament. Meanwhile, ExecuJet’s Cape Town FBO had bookings from more than 120 aircraft–at least a 300-percent increase on normal traffic volumes for this time of year.

The majority of aircraft at both airports originate from the U.S. and Europe, but some traffic has also come from various South American and African countries and ad hoc handling requests have been increasing each day.     –C.A.