WHILE other domestic
airlines struggle with
legislation for the
rights to fly, a new carrier has
launched flights, seemingly
overnight.
Phakalane Airways, in
conjunction with the Northern
Cape province, took to the
skies on January 22, launching
intra-provincial scheduled
flights between Kimberley,
Upington and Springbok and
unscheduled flights between
De Aar, Calvinia, Kuruman and
Sishen.
Questions have arisen about
the financial involvement of
the Northern Cape provincial
government in the new airline.
The DA has called for an
urgent investigation into the
deal brokered between the
provincial government and the
local aviation company, on
which there doesn’t seem to
be much information.
Captain Allan Roebuck is
ceo and pilot of Phakalane
Airways. Allan is ceo of the
Afrika Union Aviation Academy,
an aviation school, where
he is an instructor. Despite
numerous attempts for an
interview, Allan did not respond
to questions by TNW.
Andrew Louw, DA leader in
the Northern Cape, believes
Phakalane Airways will be a
new state-sponsored airline
that will operate only in the
Northern Cape at a cost of
millions to the provincial
government. He said in a
statement: “It would appear
that the primary purpose
of this airline is to ferry
government and business VIPs
between Upington, Springbok
and Kimberley. Millions are
being wasted… while the
people of the Northern Cape
continue to struggle with
unemployment and poor
service delivery. The creation
of this airline is an absurd
waste of money.”
At the launch of the new
airline in Kimberley last week,
Sylvia Lucas, Northern Cape
Premier, said: “Based on the
feasibility study, the travel
patterns indicated that it
was possible to introduce an
economically viable and safe
air transport service linking the
major towns in the province.”
Phakalane Airways was
appointed after it emerged
as the successful bidder of a
tender issued by the provincial
government last year, says the
airline’s website.
Bookings can reportedly be
made on the website,
www.phakalaneairways.co.za
by sending a ‘flight booking
request’ with the customer’s
details.
After waiting several hours,
and at the time of going
to print, TNW had still not
received a response to a
booking request and the
airline’s landline also went
unanswered.
The Department of Transport
declined to comment on
whether Phakalane Airways
has a licence to operate
scheduled services.
