South Africa is at risk of losing flight access to the United States (US) and European Union
(EU) due to its contravention of civil aviation laws.
This is according to the Department of Transport (DoT), which highlighted an issue that could potentially bar South African aircraft from being admitted to US and EU airspace.
The issue applies both ways, too, as US and EU airlines may also be barred from entering South African airspace, dealing a devastating blow to local tourism and trade, reported BusinessDay.
The department warned that South Africa has failed to establish an independent body to investigate aviation accidents and incidents, as required by annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, an international treaty governing civil aviation.
The Convention requires that all flight accident investigations must be conducted independently and impartially, and countries are expected to establish a separate body for these tasks.
In South Africa, these investigations are currently performed by the Civil Aviation Authority – an agency that falls under the DoT.
Consequently, the Civil Aviation Authority is not considered to be sufficiently independent of the government, according to the terms of the Chicago Convention.
The DoT stated that it will table this issue before the cabinet to seek a resolution.
The draft policy states that one of the risks facing South Africa’s aviation industry is the “non-independence” of the accident and incident investigation unit.
“This could lead to SA obtaining an audit finding of a serious safety concern. As a result, SA airlines will not be allowed to fly into the US and EU airspace,” reads the draft policy.
“Similarly, US and EU airlines will not fly into SA airspace due to safety concerns.”
The DoT said that it is in “continuous” engagement with the National Treasury to allocate funds for the creation of a new investigation unit that complies with international aviation requirements.
It also recommended that a cabinet memo should be drafted to “to indicate the safety implications of not having an independent entity as required by annex 13 of the Chicago Convention.”
The draft policy indicates that the DoT plans to establish an independent aircraft accident investigation entity by 2027.
It also proposes that the Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) should hold the sole responsibility of managing South Africa’s airspace.
“Private service providers offering air navigation services within the SA airspace compromise the national airspace control provided by ATNS, posing national security risks,” it said.
“ATNS shall have the sole mandate for civil airspace management, to mitigate the national security risks that arise from the fragmentation created by the existence of multiple air navigation service providers.”
Stopover flights under scrutiny
The DoT has also revealed that it wants to place stricter regulations on stopover flights, arguing that it will benefit the domestic market.
The department reasoned that passengers who could be carried by South African airlines between domestic terminals may be lost to foreign competitors.
“Exercise of the rights will further erode the SA air transport market value, thus making it difficult to protect the local air transportation industry and safeguard national interest.”
“Passengers on international stopovers in a domestic point in SA pose a challenge to the Border Management Authority when processing such passengers,” the document says. Stopover rights granted in bilateral air services arrangements should be withdrawn, it said.
It further argued that an “open sky” policy with the US and EU could harm the interests of the South African industry.
“The KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces have offered incentives in the form of airport charges waivers to some foreign airlines to incentivise the provision of direct operations,” it said.
“A rationalised approach is needed to ensure SA airlines also derive benefits from such schemes while the respective provinces address connectivity challenges backed by business cases.”
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