The country’s three main airports recorded an increase in air traffic movement in December 2025, compared with December 2024, indicating continued recovery and growth in air travel, says State-owned Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).

King Shaka International Airport, in KwaZulu-Natal, recorded an increase of 8.12% in air traffic movement, OR Tambo International Airport, in Gauteng, a 4.78% increase and Cape Town International Airport, in the Western Cape, recorded a more modest but positive increase of 1.17%.

Additionally, the traffic movements in OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports have exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels.

OR Tambo International recorded a 3.61% increase in air traffic movements compared with December 2019 and Cape Town International a 3.18% increase in air traffic movements above pre-Covid-19 levels, indicating a positive growth in air travel, notwithstanding the increase being seasonal.

However, air traffic movements at King Shaka International remain 16.41% below the December 2019 pre-Covid-19 levels, indicating that recovery at this airport is still lagging behind the other two major airports, ATNS says.

The overall picture is good news for air travel, but brings new challenges in air navigation services, which ATNS must address, and there is a need for increased capacity to manage the growth, the State-owned company notes.

ATNS delivered safe and efficient air traffic services during the period of increased demand from December 12 to January 15, which demonstrates that it is ready and able to meet service delivery requirements when normal operations increase to meet festive season demands, ATNS says.

“While ATNS is proud of the level of service provided, this would not be achieved without collaboration with its stakeholders,” it adds.

ATNS continues to prioritise stakeholder relations and collaborative efforts with industry stakeholders, including its heightened engagements with airlines and their representative bodies, the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa.

Further, after recent engagements, ATNS and the airline associations have agreed on regular engagements to address operational challenges, align planning assumptions and strengthen system-wide resilience in support of a stable and efficient aviation sector, it reports.

“ATNS remains committed to ensuring that recent isolated interruptions that occurred at OR Tambo International on January 4, 2026, are managed proactively to reduce the likelihood of recurrence,” it says.