ATNS targets November to fix flight procedures at Kruger airport, full upgrade by mid-2026

The Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) has set late November as the earliest date to resolve issues with Instrument Flight Procedures (IFPs) at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA), while aiming to complete similar work at Polokwane Airport by Christmas Day.

The State-owned aviation navigation entity plans to finalise a full overhaul of South Africa’s IFP systems by June 2026, with more than R1.6 billion allocated for the project.

ATNS acting CEO, Matome Mahomola, on Wednesday said during a media briefing that the disruptions to flights at KMIA earlier this month were linked to challenges in updating the country’s flight procedure systems — a process that has been slowed by a shortage of critical technical skills and the global poaching of qualified personnel.

"This full process will be completed by then based on the plan we have in place. What's been assured, amongst others, is that in the main network airports, at least one predominantly used runway that has IFP approvals is in place," Mahomola said.

"That is the performance based on the corporate plan signed with the Minister [of Transport Barbara Creecy] when she established the Ministerial Interim Team."

So far, ATNS has completed 61% of its IFP targets, with 240 out of 388 procedures published and approved. The 27 withdrawn procedures are part of the transition to newer satellite-based navigation systems.

Jeoff Matome, chief air traffic management Officer, said the KMIA procedures had been reinstated through a “hand amend” — a manual adjustment technique — while the Polokwane Airport procedures remain under review by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).

"Ideally, we want to have all the runways with flight procedures. We need to have the balancing act. We have to spread resources to take care of all airports in the country. Polokwane and Kruger were done at same time, approved same time, but the chart for Polokwane was not approved, it is still with the SACAA," Matome said.

"We have managed to reinstate the KMIA IFP through the hand amend technique, which is basically changing the procedure to reflect new approved procedure. We cannot do that with Polokwane because the changes are too significant to allow for a hand amend."

Meanwhile, Mahomola said ATNS was implementing an aggressive recruitment and training programme to rebuild internal capacity, aiming to reach 95% staffing complement by March 2026.

Currently, the organisation is operating at 82% capacity, with 465 employees out of a target of 567.

However, staffing levels at OR Tambo International Airport remain under strain — with the Tower at 67%, Approach at 57%, and Area Control at 61%.

"Our projections are that by December we should be at 77% for the Tower, 63% in the Approaches, and 61% in the Areas," he said.

Mahomola disputed reports that the ATNS had paid R130 million in bonuses and ex gratia payments despite underperformance.

"The board has not declared bonuses for the 2024/25 financial year. What we have done was to make provisions in the financial statements. The ex-gratia payments are an incentive offer to the personnel at the Towers as a once-off incentive scheme to retain air traffic controllers," Mahomola said.

"How we are funded as an entity is that we engage with the industry along with the economic regulator, we outline our business plan for five years with challenges we face and a tariff to cover. We are in that permission application process now."

He said ATNS has made significant progress in addressing previous audit findings, reducing 1 312 findings in its last review to 77% closed and no overdue items, compared to 606 findings in February where only 44% were resolved.

ATNS’s Safety Management Maturity score stands at 81%, above the global average of 75%.

"These are the improvements we have in place to ensure South Africans remain safe and on accidents are attributed to the ATNS," he said.

Financially, ATNS recorded a 4% increase in revenue to R1.8bn, while EBITDA declined 22.9% from R240.9m to R185.6m. Profit margins remained steady at 22.3%, and total assets improved from R2.7 billion to R3.1bn.

BUSINESS REPORT