Avis car hire has admitted that although it had to relocate to King Shaka International Airport at a time when the industry was suffering from the effects of the global economic downturn, now that it has done so, it hoped to see the benefits. The new airport was opened ahead of this year’s World Cup tournament, even though a number of airlines announced that it was not necessarily needed.

Wayne Duvenage, chief executive of Avis South Africa, said that the company had also decided to bring forward the delivery of a new fleet of vehicles to coincide with the World Cup instead of the summer holidays, as would normally be that case.

The new high-tech premises at King Shaka International cost R31 million and has the facilities to maintain, store and refuel up to 2,000 vehicles. The facility also incorporates carbon-saving and water-saving initiatives. There is even a cleaning station capable of making a vehicle look brand new in just 12 seconds.

Duvenage explained that as of September 2009, Avis has been carbon neutral. He added that carbon offsetting was being practised by the firm, and that it was investing in the production of clean energy in India, China and Tanzania.

By storing rainfall which is collected from roofs, Avis has also managed to slash its municipal water consumption by around 80 per cent. In Cape Town, a water tank capable of holding 185,000 litres of water means that the depot never needs to access the municipal supply during times of heavy rain.