Air travel threatened in South Africa

South Africa’s commercial airline industry faces severe challenges, including increasing pressure on airline finances and disruptions to air travel nationwide.

This is according to Aaron Munetsi, the CEO of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA), who told the Money Show that the ongoing mismanagement of state entities is the root cause of the problem.

MyBroadband previously reported that Air Traffic and Navigation Services’ (ATNS) failure to recalibrate instrument flight procedures (IFPs) was threatening air travel in South Africa.

IFPs are predetermined departure, arrival, and landing manoeuvres to ensure aircraft avoid obstacles while facilitating an orderly flow of air traffic.

However, if these IFPs are not up to date and bad weather creates low-visibility conditions around airports, pilots can’t land their planes.

Munetsi said this has a significant knock-on effect on South African airlines, which must absorb the costs incurred by air traffic disruptions while trying to meet their commitment to customers.

He said if flight routes are delayed because of one aircraft’s inability to land, several others will be delayed, and planes will burn fuel while waiting in line to take off.

This eventually reaches the point where flights need to be cancelled. However, Munetsi said airlines must still find ways to fulfil their commitments to passengers.

For example, passengers may be pooled together on another airline’s flight or placed in a hotel, further increasing costs.

Munetsi added that Airport Company South Africa (Acsa) grounds airlines if they fail to pay ATNS to maintain IFPs and other necessary duties.

However, airlines currently pay these fees despite ATNS failing to fulfil their part, with three airports without updated IFPs: George, King Phalo, and Bram Fischer Airport.

“We are keeping our side of the bargain, but unfortunately, we are paying for a service we are not receiving,” Munetsi said.

“We now have to make our own arrangements to ensure that our aircraft operate safely and our passengers are taken care of.”

The AASA CEO also pointed to a similar situation regarding airport facilities in many airports, such as people movers, which Acsa has failed to open up to travellers fully.

Like how airlines are mandated to pay for ATNS services, passengers pay for facilities within airports as part of airport charges, says Munetsi.

“If we miss a payment to Acsa, then we are grounded. It’s a double whammy for us,” he says.

“But when passengers get to the airport and these facilities are not available, they don’t go to Acsa, they come to us because they are paying us as the airlines.”

Much-needed upgrades

Acsa recently announced that it was preparing to complete a major infrastructure maintenance and capital expansion programme across its airports, which began at the end of 2024.

The project will expand high-impact facilities such as sewerage, ablutions, and fire escapes. Airports nationwide will also receive upgrades to key operational areas to accommodate future growth.

These upgrades include people movers, terminal and roofing works, passenger loading bridges, uninterrupted power supply, IFPs and weather systems, and jet fuel infrastructure at OR Tambo International.

This could not have come at a more crucial time, given how the maintenance of infrastructure and air traffic systems has been neglected.

SA Flyer Magazine editor Guy Leitch told the Money Show that the last significant investment in the country’s airports was in 2010, when preparations for the FIFA World Cup were underway.

He said that this has resulted in South Africa lagging behind Africa’s recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels.

“We’re expecting growth of nearly 9% from African aviation, and yet South Africa is only going to grow at 2% if we’re lucky,” he said.

“This is primarily due to these problems with Acsa. Then we’ve got the walkway and flight procedure issues. All this is putting a serious brake on the industry’s growth.”