IN less than a month the Plettenberg Bay Airport is expected to resume commercial flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town.
This week the Bitou Municipality, which owns and manages the small airport, announced that the South African Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA) is expected to perform a follow-up inspection next Friday.
A thumbs-up from the CAA would see the airport regain its commercial license and a operations of airline CemAir.
In August the airport was downgraded from category four to two due to numerous non-compliance issues which included staff training, irregular availability of fuel, access control and clear markings on the runway.
In a joint statement between CemAir and the municipality, both parties said the implementation of corrective measures outlined by CAA were in the final stages.
“Fire Fighters are finalizing their training and will be establishing a fire training area at the airport. Following an emergency coordination exercise involving multiple emergency service providers across Bitou, we believe all requirements will have been met.”
“The CAA has been requested to perform the required follow up inspection on Friday 29 October 2021. Should all regulatory requirements be satisfied it is expected that the airport license will be restored shortly thereafter. This will pave the way for commercial airline flights to return to the airport.”
If all goes well, then the Johannesburg and Cape Town flights to Plettenberg Bay will resume on November 12.
“The Bitou Municipality is delighted with the progress made and looks forward to (having) commercial flights before the start of the festive season. The plans to outsource the airport in the medium to long term is also progressing well,” concluded the statement.