South African regional airlines Airlink (South Africa) and CemAir experienced flight disruptions after the South African Air Traffic Navigation Service (ATNS) at the weekend abruptly suspended all IFR flight approaches to Kimberley, Mthatha, Polokwane, George, Upington, and East London, citing a required ICAO compliance review as the reason.
By July 22, the sudden measure had impacted Airlink's flight schedule. The airline confirmed flight disruptions on Monday morning, in particular on the Johannesburg O.R. Tambo-Mthatha and Johannesburg-Polokwane routes as a result of poor visibility in misty conditions. At least two CemAir flights from Cape Town International to Kimberley and George, respectively, were also affected, according to ADS-B data. The airline acknowledged that George, in particular, would be affected by inclement weather.
An ATNS spokesman told ch-aviation the authority was "working around the clock to remedy the situation".
Airlink CEO and Managing Director Rodger Foster said the airline had offered to assist the ATNS in securing the services of international experts in airspace and approach procedure design to expedite the review and reinstate or implement new, fully compliant procedures.
The ATNS had only notified operators in a NOTAM on the night of July 19. According to this, some flight approaches to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Pietermaritzburg were also suspended.
The ATNS, in a statement, explained it was conducting a maintenance programme for instrument flight procedures at various airports nationwide. "The procedures are being reviewed and updated to meet the current ICAO PAN-OPS criteria and advances in technology. In terms of our safety management system, procedures which do not meet the requirement should be suspended unless such non-compliances are mitigated. At this point, a few of the aerodromes where we provide air traffic services are adversely affected in terms of instrument approaches," it said.
