Johannesburg - Effects of the requirement for unabridged birth certificates and biometric visas were already driving down international air arrivals to South Africa, with the Asia Pacific region and North America seeing double-digit decreases, the Board of Airline Representatives of SA (Barsa) revealed as it clarified that a fuller impact would be seen in the next six months or so.
At a press briefing in Sandton on Thursday, Barsa said the R20 billion a year industry was under threat with indications that OR Tambo International was declining more than Cape Town International Airport.
It said growth in international air arrivals from last year to this year had slowed significantly with OR Tambo having recorded 24 percent growth from the Middle East but showing declines from every other area, with a 2 percent drop in Africa, 4 percent from Europe, 10.8 percent from Asia Pacific and 10.78 percent from North America.
“The Chinese for example are finding other ways to come to Africa for safaris, they are now finding airlines other than SAA which no longer flies to China and then connect to Maputo or Namibia where they previously flew directly to Johannesburg with SAA. It is too complicated to come to South Africa,” said Air Mauritius regional manager and Barsa chairperson Carla da Silva.
“The impact of the unabridged birth certificates requirement is still to be seen years down the line, the industry has really been impacted, also from a visa perspective” Barsa chief executive June Crawford said.
Barsa is the representative association of international airlines flying to South Africa.
It has 36 member airlines and represents their interests including negotiating tariffs that airlines pay for use of South African airspace, as well as landing and parking fees at airports, as well as ensuring airlines compliance with the country’s civil aviation laws.
It provides a single concerted voice for its members on policy and other matters in relation to the government and other industry stakeholders.
Crawford said Barsa’s counterparts in other parts of the world had expressed concern about the problems encountered by their passengers intending to fly to South Africa as they were losing passengers on their flights to South Africa.
She highlighted two concerns – that the airlines were assisting passengers to help passengers interpret the procedures as well as the lack of consistency in the application of the new requirements on arrival in South Africa.
“South Africa is the only country that has these requirements,” Da Silva said.