“Although AASA appreciates the efforts being made by the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to restore fuel supplies at what is Southern Africa’s busiest air travel and air cargo gateway, we urge ACSA to expedite the installation of the back-up bypass line that was promised as part of the fuel supply resilience plan after the previous main supply valve failure in December 2022,” said AASA CEO, Aaron Munetsi.

In the meantime, our local and regional short-haul member airlines are doing whatever they can to mitigate the impact of today’s disruptions. Some have been able to tanker extra fuel (i.e. carry more than optimally required for a single flight) on flights to Johannesburg, but because all of the aircraft parking bays are occupied, many arriving aircraft have been directed to park on taxiways and await busses to disembark their passengers and unload baggage. At least one flight was able to take off from OR Tambo and fly, via Lanseria to refuel, to Cape Town. Although ACSA has temporarily opened the fuel line, there is a very long backlog of flights to be refuelled.