South African airports have been faced with a variety of issues that have led to disruptions and chaos since the lifting of travel bans as the COVID-19 regulations ease.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw the economy of South Africa and the world take a plunge for the worst, as one of the biggest economic drivers, travel, had to come to a complete halt due to the global lockdowns and restrictions that were placed on travelling to contain the spread of the virus.
A ban on travel meant that movement was restricted, and airports had to close as no flights were going in and out of countries. As much as this ban was implemented to help contain the virus, it hurt the travel industry significantly, especially aviation and the functioning of airports.
Slow travel recovery and busy airports
Since the COVID-19 restrictions have finally eased with travel now open and travel bans and restrictions lifted, the world has seen a steady move back to a fully operational and booming travel industry after a lot was lost, including jobs of airport staff and many other staff roles in aviation.
The rate at which travel has started picking up again has been a step in the right direction but also an eye opener to the substantial negative impact that the closing of travel had on the functioning of airports. A lot of chaos has ensued with the transition back to open airports and busy flights.
Airport chaos in South Africa
Since the travel restrictions have lifted and South Africans are now free to move in and out of the country or to take flights domestically, airports have been struggling to get back up on their feet with various issues that are arising and adding to the frustrations of travellers in and out of the country. The last COVID-19 variant scare at the end of 2021, just when restrictions had started easing, can be largely to blame for some of the chaos that has transpired in South African airports, causing panic in airports and resulting in stranded travellers due to the cancellation of flights that were meant to travel overseas.
The announcement of the Omicron variant in November resulted in absolute chaos when flights out of South Africa to the United States, United Kingdom, and many other European countries were quickly banned due to fears that the variant would spread. This left many travellers frustrated as all flights were immediately halted. As of recently, South Africa has seen the demise of Comair’s British Airways and Kulula after it was announced that they would be grounded indefinitely as the companies were still in the process of securing funding through business rescue. Comair, which was established in 1943 as Commercial Air Services, has been grounded since 9 June 2021.
Comair flights grounded in March 2022
Before its now indefinite grounding, Comair had left airports in chaos and confusion earlier in the year as the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) had made the decision to ground all flights for at least 24 hours. The grounding of the aircrafts led to the cancelation of flights which passengers were not adequately informed about. According to SACAA, the reason for the last-minute grounding was the need to investigate some safety incidents that had been occurring involving the airlines (Kulula and British Airways South Africa) in the past month. These incidents ranged from engine issues to landing gear issues. The decision to ground these airlines was made as a precautionary measure that caused airports to deal with the aftermath.
Looming jet fuel shortages at airports
The issue of jet fuel possibly running low is another issue that South African airports have been faced with. On 9 May 2022, the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) released a joint media statement about the issue, expressing concern at the number of airlines that took to the decision to cancel some of their flights because of the issue of possible jet fuel issues. Currently, South Africa is experiencing a delay in the moving of jet fuel as a result of the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal that caused damage to railway infrastructure. ACSA assured the public in its statement that fuel levels are stable and that there is no need for the cancellation of flights and other airport inconveniences.
The issue of fake taxi operators at airports
Fake taxi operators have been another source of chaos at South African airports. Unauthorised taxi operators that have been posing as Uber drivers have disrupted business operations for legitimate e-hailers while also putting the safety of travellers at risk. Illegal operators were found to have been able to access the terminal buildings to ask for business.
