According to the Airlines Association of Southern Africa, infrastructure challenges threaten airline operations in southern Africa. Picture: Pexels
A spate of incidents that disrupted airline operations over the summer peak travel season and throughout last month have fuelled frustrations and resulted in the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) renewing its concerns over service delivery from State aviation agencies while airlines bear the brunt to meet commitments to their customers.
AASA represents most of the airlines in the SA Development Community bloc, including 17 airline members and 40 associate members.
The leading airline representative organisation in Southern Africa stated that the incidents are primarily related to the reliability of refuelling infrastructure, electrical power supply, and redundancy systems at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) and Cape Town International Airport (CTIA).
ORTIA was one of the world’s top 10 busiest airports in 2024, with 17.8 million passengers and over 204 000 aircraft movements between April 2023 and March 2024, according to data released on Friday by OAG’s Global Airline Schedules.
Aaron Munetsi, chief executive officer of AASA, said airlines and passengers pay statutory user charges to the various State aviation agencies for the provision of reliable, safe, efficient, and affordable services.
However, Munetsi said the organisation is concerned that the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), ATNS, and SAWS have applied to their respective economic regulators for new tariff increases when they have been unable to provide the full range of the services that they have been paid for.
“At the same time, the airlines are bearing the brunt in terms of ensuring that they meet their commitments to their customers by having to provide alternatives for disrupted operations,” said Munetsi.
AASA said there remains ongoing uncertainty regarding the management of fuel reserves as well as the security of the jet fuel supply. “Either way, uncertainty directly impacts the ability of airlines to fulfil their schedule integrity.”
Jet fuel costs are high in South Africa due to damage caused by the unrest, floods, refinery closures, and reliance on imports.
Munetsi explained that fuel companies are responsible for fuel procurement. Since the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, fuel suppliers have reduced jet fuel reserves at OR Tambo by over half, from 11 days to around four days.
“We note that the notice to air missions (NOTAM) imposing fuel uplift restrictions, including a ban on flights tankering fuel, from OR Tambo, remains valid until 1pm on 25 February, unless it is withdrawn before then.
“This suggests neither the fuel suppliers nor ACSA can guarantee the necessary volumes and that, until the shipments arrive at the OR Tambo International Airport fuel storage depot, we should remain concerned about potential disruptions to operations,” stated Munetsi.
The organisation further explained that airlines are still feeling the adverse impact of the very slow pace of restoring the 326 instrument flight procedures countrywide that Air Traffic and Navigation Services SOC Limited (ATNS) withdrew last year.
Munetsi said members are frustrated with ATNS’ delays in reinstating instrument flight procedures, especially at key airports like George, where the unavailability of procedures has led to flight disruptions and increased costs.
In addition, AASA said the SA Weather Service suffered a cyber breach that disrupted the provision of aviation weather observations and forecasts, which are mission-critical for flights.
Munetsi explained that last month’s double breach of the Weather Services IT system prevented the provision of aviation weather observations or forecasts for a time, making it illegal to dispatch flights.
“In this day and age, it is imperative that our essential service providers have robust cybersecurity barriers in place, which are tested frequently for gaps, which are then plugged. Fortunately, our member airlines have found alternative workarounds so that operations are not disrupted,” he said.
In addition, Munetsi said the shortage of qualified air traffic controllers and airspace designers has led to ATNS imposing flow control, limiting the number of aircraft in Johannesburg airspace to avoid overwhelming controllers.
While this increases safety risks, he said airlines prioritise passenger safety and may divert, delay, or cancel flights to eliminate risks.
Munetsi added that AASA’s position is that its members and travellers have been paying top dollar for services that have not been fully reliable. In some cases, such as ATNS’s failure to maintain the approval of instrument flight procedures, it collected money but did not do the work.
“The regulators should insist on full audits of how those user charges were spent before entertaining any applications for increases,” he stated.
ACSA acknowledged the concerns raised by AASA regarding certain operational challenges at OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport. “ACSA remains committed to maintaining and improving its infrastructure to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable airport operations.”
It has experienced challenges related to refuelling infrastructure and power supply at certain airports.
The company said at OR Tambo International Airport, a failure in the hydrant system’s fuel valve in December 2024 affected fuel supply operations, while at Cape Town International Airport, a cable fault, compounded by a generator issue, resulted in temporary power supply disruptions.
These issues were unforeseen but have been actively managed and resolved, stated ACSA.
“The fuel valve failure at OR Tambo International Airport occurred on 9 December 2024, and a replacement was installed later that month. To further enhance redundancy, ACSA is installing a bypass system, expected to be completed by the end of February 2025.
“At Cape Town International Airport, the power disruption was promptly addressed, and the cable fault was repaired. Additional resilience measures, including backup generators, have been implemented to prevent future occurrences.”
ACSA said it remains engaged with AASA and other industry stakeholders to ensure continued collaboration on operational improvements.
“Our priority is to deliver world-class airport infrastructure and services that align with the evolving needs of the aviation industry. We appreciate our partners’ patience as we implement long-term solutions that will enhance the resilience and efficiency of our airports,” it said.
ATNS said that the state-owned enterprise had suspended instrument flight procedures in July 2024. ATNS stated these procedures are based on South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and International Civil Aviation Organization Procedures for Air Navigation Services – Aircraft Operations (ICAO PAN-OPS) design criteria.
It said as part of the process, the procedures are being reviewed and updated to meet the current ICAO PAN-OPS criteria and advances in technology.
“As we review these procedures, it is necessary to suspend any procedures that do not comply with the new criteria or safety requirements. During the suspension period, there have been flight disruptions in a number of airports, especially during inclement weather conditions,” it said.
Air Traffic Navigation Services said several suspended procedures have, however, been approved and uplifted, and are operational.
“These procedures play a crucial role in the daily flight operations, and ATNS is committed to upholding the highest level of safety and efficiency across the network,” it stated.
SAWS spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said the Weather Service fell victim to cybercrime more than a week ago.
Segalwe said the attack saw criminals encrypting SAWS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. As a result, he said the provision of essential services, such as aviation products, was impacted.
According to Segalwe, SAWS immediately devised alternative means to render those critical services to avert an interruption.
“An expert team of ICT and cybersecurity specialists has been on site since the attack in an effort to restore and recover the compromised systems within a reasonable time, and they are making progress,” he said.
Segalwe said SAWS has written to AASA to request a meeting to discuss its concerns.
All three of these State aviation service providers, who are applying to their respective economic regulators for tariff increases, stated that they are complying with regulations.
ACSA stated that it operates under a regulated framework, where tariffs are determined by the independent economic regulator.
The tariff review process considers long-term infrastructure development, operational costs, and service improvements, stated the company.
“While challenges have been encountered, ACSA has taken proactive steps to ensure service reliability and infrastructure upgrades. The planned investment of R21.7 billion in airport development projects, including fuel supply improvements, power redundancy measures, and terminal upgrades, underscores ACSA’s commitment to enhancing service delivery for airlines and passengers,” said ACSA.
The ATNS said the process of tariff determination is not different from those of the energy sector and is not carried out unanimously by ATNS in isolation.
“It is an industry consultative process led by the Regulating Committee as provided by the legislation. The final tariff is promulgated by the government at the recommendation of the Regulating Committee after extensive due processes have been exhausted.
“It is therefore prudent to advise that ATNS presents a tariff proposal to the Regulating Committee that is backed up by projects and initiatives that require the requisite funding, similar to a process undertaken by Eskom.”
The Weather Service stated that the application for a hike is an annual exercise.
“The SAWS applies to the regulator and engages with the industry, through the regulator, on the proposed increase. The application process takes into account costs associated with rendering services to the industry and seeks to compensate the SAWS for the provision of those services,” said Segalwe.
He explained that the process is legislated and regulated, and the regulator is obliged to request input from both the SAWS and the industry.
Additionally, he said, it is necessary to find a balance between the interests of the SAWS and the industry and then propose a tariff that reflects those interests.
“All along, the SAWS was providing services to the satisfaction of the industry. It was only after the cybersecurity breach that services were impacted, leading to the SAWS not operating at full capacity,” said Segalwe.
Last week, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy and the fuels industry stakeholders adopted a logistics plan for the transportation of jet fuel secured by the fuels industry for OR Tambo.
Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said the logistics plan was developed by ACSA. Msibi said the airport was sitting on 20.1 million litres of fuel at the beginning of February.
He said an additional 59 million litres of jet fuel had been injected into the pipeline in the last week of January, which arrived at ORTIA on Thursday. “This volume may necessitate the removal of the current restrictions on airlines and bring the fuel supply closer to normal operations.”
According to Msibi, 71.5 million litres of jet fuel will be imported into Durban via three vessels expected to arrive on February 5 and 10.
“The imported fuel will then be transported to ORTIA via pipeline. The total available stock in February is 150.6 million litres. This means there is no longer any shortage of jet fuel for refuelling of airlines across ORTIA,” he said.
In addition, Msibi said the fuel industry has also agreed to establish a mechanism to share across contracted airlines so that any airline whose supplier runs short can access from a non-contracted supplier.
Meanwhile, Creecy’s Committee of Aviation Experts established to scrutinise challenges at ATNS concluded its first preliminary diagnostic report, which was adopted by the minister and the ATNS board at the end of January.
Creecy said the committee’s recommendations will be implemented immediately by the ATNS Board and management, with the advice of the Intervention Committee. Her office will monitor progress closely.
“I am confident that these actions will ensure that South Africa continues to provide safe and efficient operations in its airspace,” said the minister.
The committee said while the immediate implementation of the recommendations would stabilise the organisation, rebuilding ATNS to fully implement its mandate will take time.
“Immediate interventions will focus on improving staffing, ensuring the reliability of critical systems, maintaining instrument flight procedures, as well as governance improvements to improve single point accountability,” said the department.
karen.singh@inl.co.za