Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Lizelle Maurice has expressed deep concern to Air Traffic Navigation Services chief executive Nozipho Mdawe about the recent flight interruptions and cancellations at East London’s King Phalo Airport.
The cancellations at the airport, which predominantly services business travellers, have led to severe financial losses and, even more concerning, cast future travel plans into doubt.
In a letter to Mdawe, Maurice said the cancellations were due to inclement weather and the ATNS’s unsuccessful but ongoing efforts to comply with international aviation standards.
ATNS was over a year late in updating instrument flight procedure maintenance, which has led to significant disruptions at nearly a dozen smaller SA airports.
“The public and the business sector were not informed about this planned maintenance programme, or given sufficient notice of such maintenance interruptions,” Maurice said.
She sent copies of the letter to Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, transport MEC Xolile Nqatha and minister Barbara Creecy.
“The cancellation of flights, due to lack of planning from your organisation, has had a profound impact on our community, both economically and socially,” the letter says.
“The local economy, heavily reliant on tourism and business travel, has suffered considerable losses.
“Small businesses, in particular, are facing severe financial strain due to the reduced influx of visitors.
“Additionally, residents who depend on air travel for medical appointments, business commitments and personal reasons are experiencing undue hardship,” the letter says.
Maurice said she emailed the letter to the ATNS chief at 7.20am on Sunday and was surprised to have received a reply less than 10 hours later, with a request for a virtual meeting at 10am on Monday.
“We sincerely regret the delays and cancellations of flights into and out of King Phalo, and the inconvenience to passengers,” Mdawe said.
“There is a backlog in flight procedures that ATNS is conducting at the airports. We have since submitted the procedures.”
Due to the airport having only one operating runway, she could not promise the problem would not occur again.
“Wind conditions and directions make landing on the only operable runway hazardous and the airport has to be closed.”
“This is bad news for King Phalo because East London’s heaviest winds typically occur in October, with an average speed in excess of 20km/h.
“Another challenge facing ATNS, which provides air navigation services, that control the air space, is a shortage of air traffic controllers.
“We have a backlog of designs for the air space [effectively recognised highways in the sky on different routes and altitudes], mainly because our professionals [air traffic controllers] have been poached by neighbouring and international countries, leading to a shortage.
“For example, they go to the UAE, Europe and many countries outside Africa for more money and we cannot afford to match the salaries.
“We have recently trained five controllers and they will be ready in 18 months, another five will soon commence training and the last five will start training next year.
“Another reason that there is a paucity of traffic controllers is that the local [SA] training is considered to be at the top international level.
“More than 35 countries are sending their controllers to SA for training.”
In her letter, Maurice wrote: “As the voice of business, our mission is to promote an environment for growth and sustainability.
“The impact of your organisation’s inefficiency has had the following (consequences):
• Economic losses: Significant revenue losses due to cancelled domestic flights and accommodation bookings;
• Missed connections: Losses of revenue due to international flight connections [being] missed by passengers who could not afford to insure their purchases;
• Emotional stress: The psychological impact on leisure, sport and business travellers who missed their flights and subsequent sporting events, holidays, funerals, weddings and business appointments;
• Export trade delays: The impact on export trade, as goods could not get to their destination in time, particularly goods with a short shelf life; and
• Risks of future flight delays: Continued uncertainty and potential for future flight delays or cancellations, which could further erode confidence in the reliability of air travel to and from East London, exacerbating the economic and social impacts already being felt.
Black Business Forum chair Luthando Bara said: “Current limitations have caused widespread disruption to business operations and exposed vulnerabilities in the province’s air travel system. The ongoing delays and cancellations significantly affect businesses that rely on timely air travel for operations, supply chains, and customer interactions. These disruptions result in financial losses, reduced productivity, and damage to reputations.
“The impact extends to patients requiring medical care outside the province, compounded by soaring flight costs since the initial disruptions at King Phalo Airport,” Bara said.
He also said relevant authorities needed to upgrade the airport.
“We call on relevant authorities to prioritise the long-overdue upgrades to King Phalo Airport, including runway extensions and the development of Bulembu Airport [in Bhisho] as an emergency landing alternative. Investing in these improvements is essential for enhancing regional connectivity and minimising future disruptions that threaten our business community and economic growth.
“We urge authorities to prioritise this issue, specifically addressing infrastructure deficiencies, particularly the air navigation system, as previously highlighted by FlySafair. This situation highlights the urgent need for substantial upgrades to the airport’s infrastructure.”
Maurice and Mdawe agreed that in future the chamber would be informed on the progress on repairs to the inoperable runway.
Travellers booked on cancelled flights criticised Safair for price gouging when it refunded passengers with a cancellation fee of R1,000 and then charged R3,000 for seats on the few available flights.
Transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi said there would be a “follow-up meeting with the industry” on Thursday to receive feedback.
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