Polokwane, South Africa loses scheduled ops after downgrade

Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has been forced to suspend flights to Polokwane in northern Limpopo Province with immediate effect because the airport failed to maintain minimum levels of emergency response services required to host scheduled airline services. The airline, in a statement, said it had been advised by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) late on April 6 that Polokwane Airport had been downgraded to CAT2 status, which was below the minimum level required for scheduled commercial air services. “The current status of the airport presents as an operational safety concern, and it would be illegal to operate scheduled services at the airport. It is regrettable that the airport did not advise Airlink of the impending threat of de-categorisation and its inability to provide the minimum level of emergency services required to maintain its aerodrome license category,” Airlink Chief Executive Rodger Foster said. The airline said it had explored all options, including the possibility of operating at the Pietersburg Civil Aerodrome, but the facility also had no rescue fire-fighting services and therefore was unable to accept scheduled commercial flights. The airline said it was unable to ascertain at this stage whether Polokwane would meet the minimum requirements for future services. SACAA spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba told ch-aviation the airport did not meet the requirements for airline services relating to civil infrastructure, apron services, fire fighting and rescue services, and aerodrome quality management systems. He said there had been repeated non-compliances at the airport that had not been attended to within agreed periods and resurfaced during follow-up audits. “We have given Polokwane Airport several, repeated, sufficient times to close the non-compliances, and they have failed to comply. Hence this decision to downgrade,” he explained. The airport, which opened in 1996 on the site of a former air force base, is managed by the Limpopo provincial government under the public entity Gateway Airports Authority Limited. The airport is a gateway to the Kruger National Park, one of South Africa’s top tourist destinations, with Hoedspruit and Skukuza being the nearest airports with instrument procedures. Airlink is the only commercial airline currently serving Polokwane.