Urgent call as airline left up in air
A TOP regional airline association has written to Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi urging him to act on the state of uncertainty stunting the leadership as well as the status of SA Airlink, amid concern that the airline may be operating without a licence at the end of September.
The Airlines Association of Southern Africa represents at least 19 airlines in the Southern African region.
Its CEO, Chris Zweigenthal, wrote to Maswanganyi alerting him to the fact that SA Airlink was “experiencing challenges due to lack of progress” in its emergency application lodged with the Domestic Air Services Licensing Council.
Apparently, the transport department has supported the granting of an extension of the SA Airlink licence to the end of September, while the permanent licence application is under way, but a decision on this remains outstanding.
“I respectfully request your urgent intervention in enabling the SA Airlink application to be dealt with and to ensure the Department of Transport and the ASLC [Domestic Air Services Licensing Council] work together to eliminate the backlog of applications which clearly is adversely impacting the sectors of the domestic aviation industry,” said Zweigenthal.
He said the council was also at odds with the department over the board’s term of office and wanted the minister to consider their reappointment prior to the council positions being advertised and new appointments being made.
Department of Transport spokesman Ishmael Mnisi said neither the department nor the ministry had received communication about the letter, but said until otherwise decided, the minister would follow procedure on the council’s board tenure.
Mnisi said he could not comment on the licence predicament of SA Airlink as the minister had not reached a decision on the matter. — BDLive