Industry organisation the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) has called on Transport Minister Barbara Creecy to intervene and ensure that avoidable failures affecting air travel are resolved quickly before economic harm is done to the sector and jobs are sacrificed.

Flight schedule disruptions are financial hammer-blows to airlines. Their customers lose confidence, resulting in lost sales, ticket cancellations and refunds, says AASA CEO Aaron Munetsi.

Simultaneously, they are saddled with additional costs including extra fuel and ground handling for diverted flights, re-accommodating passengers, landing and parking charges at the diversion airports.

Further, South Africa’s domestic and international air services licensing councils, which are the industry’s economic regulators, have halted their work because the Department of Transport has not paid council members for their time and effort in performing their duties.

“This completely stops the national objective of expanding passenger and cargo air services to enable trade, business and leisure travel and tourism. The work of these two councils is vital to the well-being of the industry and the economy,” he emphasises.

The industry has also faced disruptions at the country's airports for more than two years linked to the problematic integration and functionality of the Department of Home Affairs’ new biometrically-powered border and identity verification systems and hardware, he adds.

“The breakdowns, bottlenecks and withdrawal of critical air transport infrastructure and services, which airlines and passengers pay for in the form of user charges, levies and taxes on air travel, signals an indifference to the aviation industry and a failure to grasp its significant contribution to the country’s economy,” says Munetsi.

The country needs to harness aviation’s potential and treat air connectivity as a key pillar in its strategy to recover the economy, create jobs and restore its competitiveness, he adds.

The power outage at Cape Town International Airport on the evening of July 28 caused several local and foreign airlines’ flights to and from the airport to be delayed and diverted, inconveniencing travellers and burdening carriers with additional costs and strained operations, he highlights.

Prior to this, the Air Traffic Navigation Service (ATNS) indefinitely suspended flight approaches to nine of the country’s airports after it missed a deadline to complete mandatory reviews and to re-design any approaches that it found to be unfit for purpose, the AASA says.

“The withdrawal of flight approaches, which are aviation’s equivalent to blocking motorway offramps, is forcing airlines to divert, delay or cancel flights, especially at those airports where all of the previously available approaches have been suspended,” says Munetsi.

For those particular airports, landings are now only permitted when there is sufficient clear visibility at a height above the ground and beneath any clouds, from where pilots can safely descend and touchdown on the runway.

However, this is impossible when there is fog, smog, low-lying mist and rain, which are prevalent in winter during the early mornings and late afternoons or evenings, he emphasises.

“They also have to pay ATNS for the extra en-route navigation and air traffic control charges associated with any diversions.

“These suspensions have serious and harmful economic ramifications for businesses, industry, trade, essential and emergency services as well as peoples’ livelihoods in towns such as Kimberley, George, Polokwane, Mthatha and Richards Bay, whose airports are the worst-affected by the suspensions.”

Government must act and ensure its entities responsible for providing world-class aviation services and infrastructure, including the Department of Transport, Airports Company South Africa, ATNS and the South African Civil Aviation Authority, which now houses the two licensing councils, prevent these kinds of disruptions and deliver on their mandate of enabling safe, reliable, efficient and accessible passenger and cargo air transport.

This will let airlines play their role in fixing and growing South Africa’s economy, Munetsi says.