Flight disruptions plagued airlines and their travellers over the past weekend.
George Airport recently saw disruptions and flight cancellations over the weekend due to the ongoing suspension of critical ATNS procedures at the airport which resulted in aircraft not being able to take off or land in bad weather.
According to Flysafair, six flights were cancelled while around 10 were delayed.
The disruptions came despite ATNS’s assertion in January that George Airport’s procedures were being finalised and that efforts were under way to obtain approvals.
Since then, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has poured cold water over hopes for a fast resolution to the ATNS issue, which began in July last year. During a briefing on ATNS last week, the Minister clarified that ATNS at certain airports is currently operating under temporary alternative means of compliance (AMOC) for certain procedures. That AMOC is set to expire in April and Creecy has said that it was unlikely that the flight procedures would be flight ready before April 2025.
Airports were also hit by technical issues affecting Flysafair and LIFT’s check-in processes over the weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday, Acsa notified travellers of the situation which would result in longer queues for check-in processing. It recommended that FlySafair and LIFT passengers arrive at least three hours before regional flight departures, and two hours before domestic flight departures.
Acsa confirmed that the check-in system had resumed normal operations on March 17.
Airlines and key industry players have repeatedly called on Acsa to address challenges with airport infrastructure, as reported by Travel News.
An SIU investigation into Acsa is in play relating to alleged maladministration at the airport operator. Acsa received a qualified audit with findings in November and the Department of Transport has yet to come up with a plan to address the reliability of services and airport infrastructure.
