IATA warns South Africa over “turning a blind eye” to airlines owed millions in blocked funds

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has cautioned that South Africa should be more proactive in protecting local airlines owed money from blocked funds abroad, even though the country itself does not appear on IATA’s latest list of nations restricting repatriation of airline revenues.

IATA’s newly released global report shows that $1.2 billion in airline revenues remain trapped by governments worldwide, with only a marginal $100 million improvement since April 2025. A striking 93% of these blocked funds are located in Africa and the Middle East (AME).

Kamil Al-Awadhi, regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, on Wednesday said South Africa should be “concerned” that its carriers are being supplied and sustained by revenue that is effectively inaccessible.

"There is no blocked funds in South Africa. However, the country should be worried about its airlines being supplied by money that's blocked in other countries. For example, there are private airlines in SA that are owed money by other countries," Al-Awadhi said.

"I find it strange that these airlines serve SA very well, contribute quite heavily to the GDP, and provide jobs for South Africans. And then when the airline has an issue with another country, the government of South Africa is not interested in negotiating with that country, which I find strange."

Blocked funds occur when airlines are unable to access the proceeds of their sales activities from some African countries where the national reserves are depleted to the extent that foreign currency allocation to airlines is nonexistent.

There have been serious concerns raised by member airlines of the growing amount of inaccessible funds in some African countries.

Restrictions include burdensome or inconsistent procedures to obtain repatriation approval, delays in obtaining approval, shortage or lack of foreign exchange or other limitations imposed by governments or central banks.

IATA has urged governments to remove all restrictions on repatriation and honour commitments made under bilateral air service agreements.

Al-Awadhi also expressed confidence that South Africa had resolved the aviation navigation disruptions that affected peak travel at the end of this year, including intermittent closures of the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport runway due to inclement weather.

Speaking at IATA’s Africa media roundtable, he said recent engagements with local stakeholders, including Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), assured him that delays, diversions and flight cancellations will be largely resolved by the first quarter of 2026.

"They worked real hard in developing processes and procedures and so I don't think we would see any of the issues the aviation industry faced in South Africa this year," he said.

"We probably won't see the same issues, They assured all these will be resolved by early next year."

ATNS confirmed that significant progress had been made in strengthening the availability and reliability of instrument flight procedures nationwide and that it was fully prepared for the peak travel period between 12 December 2025 and 15 January 2026.

"To facilitate seamless operations, ATNS has initiated individual engagements with airlines to maintain a continuous understanding of their requirements and the support they expect," said Mphilo Dlamini, ATNS head of corporate affairs and communications.

"Enhanced stakeholder engagement will serve as a key tool to mitigate risks and minimise potential air travel disruptions."

taining approval, shortage or lack of foreign exchange or other limitations imposed by governments or central banks.