Leading South African car rental company Avis says its forced move to the new Durban Airport will have long term benefits. Chief executive Wayne Duvenage said that the high cost relocation to the new King Shaka International Airport would not begin to show a positive return for at least ten years, but added that by that stage, all concerned would be glad of the transition.

Duvenage said Avis would have preferred to stay at the old airport but was forced into the move as the World Cup organisers demanded that the new location be up and running in time for the World Cup tournament, despite protests from airlines who claimed that such a move was unnecessary. The timing of the move could not have been worse, with South Africa embroiled in the air travel recession.

While air travel is slowly showing signs of returning to pre-recession levels, Duvenage stated that there was still some concern over the slow pace of business travel from South America and Europe. The biggest increase in inbound travel has been from India and the Far East. However, the car rental industry in the republic is not traditionally favoured by this market, with Japanese and Chinese business travellers especially reluctant to drive on South African roads, preferring instead to use taxi services.

The Avis facilities at King Shaka are state-of-the-art, with the new carbon-saving and water-saving depot covering a large 2.6 hectares, with the site also housing 2,000 vehicles, a maintenance area and refuelling station. The regional office has also been moved to the new site, which features the introduction of two new fast-line washing machines, allowing spotless vehicles to be achieved in a mere 12 seconds.