Mthatha Airport crisis must never happen again

The news that the Mthatha Airport will be fully operational from Tuesday is welcome relief for everyone in this province. Our story on page 2 announces that services will resume this week, as the SA Civil Aviation Authority is satisfied that the airport has addressed its flaws. Johannesburg-based SA Airlink is to provide early morning and late afternoon return flights using one of its 37-seater Embraer 135 aircraft every Monday to Friday, with early morning flights on Saturdays and an afternoon flight on Sundays.

This is great news for passengers who commute between Johannesburg and Mthatha regularly. But the question remains why the airport was allowed to reach this stage of being unsafe that necessitated its downgrade in the first place. The Dispatch was the first to blow the whistle on how transport officials failed to play their part when SACAA found faults at the Mthatha Airport.

It was back in September that a red flag was raised, but nothing was done to remedy the situation.

The main shortcomings were found in the airport’s rescue and firefighting services, as well as the aerodrome emergency management system.

The downgrade was no sudden decision on the part of the CAA. It notified the airport of the shortcomings, and gave it guidelines on how the problems were to be put right. But when the CAA checked up on whether the situation was indeed improved in January, the airport’s corrective action plans had not been executed.

Premier Phumulo Masualle must be commended for having apologised publicly for his government’s failure to rescue the airport when asked to do so. He said: “We have expressed in cabinet our utmost disgust … what is really annoying is that this did not come all of a sudden. There would have been notification of a need for things to be done after repeated efforts.”

The apology is welcome, as was the news that transport DDG Lomex Sisislana has been suspended. However, people of this province also want an undertaking that this will never happen again. This airport helps commuters between Mthatha and Johannesburg cut their travelling time by no less than two hours.

The airport also has huge potential to unlock economic development opportunities in the eastern half of our province.

Masualle must be commended for having apologised publicly for government’s failure to rescue the airport