The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has downgraded the operational status of Mthatha Airport from a Category 4 to a Category 3 airport.
What does this mean?
Mthatha Airport will continue to operate, albeit under a different category of Aerodrome Licence.
Certain operational privileges will be curtailed and certain category of aircraft, typically large passenger jets, will no longer be able to use this airport for landing or departure.
Why this decision?
The decision to downgrade the operational category level of the airport was taken after the SACAA had determined that there continued to be certain circumstances that amounted to material deviations from the requirements of the civil aviation regulations, thereby compromising safety at Mthatha Airport.
Earlier in January, an inspection was conducted in an effort to validate that the actions outlined in the Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) submitted by the airport in December 2018, which were in response to the audit finding made by the SACAA a few months prior, were duly implemented.
Regrettably, certain specified activities were not implemented.
The main shortcomings in this regard related to rescue and fire-fighting services as well as the aerodrome emergency management system.
These are serious non-compliances that cannot be allowed to continue as they pose a very serious threat to safe and secure civil aviation operations.
The Regulator expects that the airport will make all the necessary operational arrangements in order to give effect to the new category level.
SACAA is willing, able, and readily available to assist the airport to comply with the requisite civil aviation regulatory prescripts.
SA Airlink has joined SA Express in suspending their services between Johannesburg and Mthatha.
