South Africa’s air traffic management agency, Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), has said that it has made “significant progress” in rebuilding its core capacities and stabilising its operations. It highlighted that the instrument approach procedure for the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, whose unavailability had recently been in the news, had now been approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and was now available for operational use.

Further, the procedures and charts at Bloemfontein and Kimberley have also been approved by the SACAA. They will come into effect on November 27. The instrument flight procedures for Polokwane, Richards Bay and Upington will become effective on December 25.

All flight procedures have been maintained at network airports, except for one procedure at Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport (Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth), which remained outstanding. That procedure will also become effective on November 27.

Recruitment of skilled staff (including air traffic controllers (ATCs)), both locally and internationally, is under way, and the pipeline for the recruitment and training of new recruits has been strengthened. There are now 25 more validated ATCs at Johannesburg and Cape Town. Others are currently undergoing their validation at the two airports. ATNS staffing at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport has increased to 70%, and at Cape Town International Airport to 82%. The ATNS Aviation Safety Office is now staffed at 78% (earlier this year, it had been only 28%).

ATNS assured that it had adopted the recommendations of the Committee of Experts, appointed by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy in December last year. The ATNS board had so far approved R1-billion in funding to modernise its systems.

For four essential systems, contracts have been placed or are in an advanced stage of negotiation. These systems are the National Air Traffic Management System; the Arrivals Management System; the new Air Traffic Flow Management System; and the modernisation of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance systems, including voice switching and datalinks.

“The ATNS board and executive management remain committed to rebuilding operational resilience, strengthening governance and restoring confidence in South Africa’s air traffic management system,” assured ATNS.