Big changes for airports in South Africa

South African airports are set to undergo a series of structural improvements so that they can fulfil their mandate.
Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy established a committee to investigate the root cause of the recent problems that affected the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).
Creecy believed that ATNS required a deeper diagnosis of its problems following months of working with the services and the aviation industry.
The ATNS is responsible for the maintenance of flight instrument procedures such as the standard instrument departures, standard arrival route and enroute procedures.
However, the organisation has faced several setbacks regarding flight instrument procedures and flight delays at various airports.
The Department of Transport noted that ATNS has also lost part of its technical capacity due to the resignation of air traffic controllers and brain drain.
Creecy thus established a Committee of Aviation Experts to scrutinise the challenges at Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).
The committee noted the following problems during its investigation:
- Critical staffing shortages, particularly Air Traffic Service.
- Critical CNS systems are not as reliable as they should be.
- Flight procedures were suspended as a result of not being maintained.
The committee, which was established on 12 December 2024, set out several recommendations to improve ATNS.
The work on implementing the recommendations to stabilise the organisation began immediately upon their release in late January 2025.
However, the Department of Transport noted that rebuilding the organisation to implement its mandate fully will take time.
Immediate interventions will focus on:
- Improving staffing;
- Ensuring the reliability of critical systems;
- Maintaining the instrument flight procedures; and
- Governance improvements.
Firstly, the ATNS will need to accelerate the recruitment of critical staff, such as air traffic service staff, flight procedure designers, surveyors, technical support staff, engineers and training instructors.
The process is expected to take a period of 18 months up to 3 years to be fully implemented.
There will also be an urgent upgrade of communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems.
This is aimed at improving the Air Traffic Management System, Air Traffic Flow Management System and Communication systems.
Steps will also be taken to ensure the maintenance of instrument flight procedures. These are the root cause of the most recent flight delays.
Finally, governance processes will be prioritized to improve governance processes to enable single-point accountability to allow efficient implementation.
“These recommendations will be implemented immediately by the ATNS Board and management, with the advice of the Intervention Committee. My office will monitor progress closely,” said Creecy.
“I am meeting the captains of the aviation industry on Friday to secure their support and cooperation.”
“I am confident that these actions will ensure that South Africa continues to provide safe and efficient operations in its airspace.”
The committee of experts will function for six months. It will advise the ATNS Board and the executive management on the implementation of the aforementioned recommendations.