Cape Town International Airport faced major disruptions on Thursday, January 22, due to a “damaged power cable” that severely impacted essential operations, including the fuel depot. 

This power failure led to numerous flight delays and cancellations, with FlySafair highlighting fuel pump problems as a key issue. 

This incident is just one of several that have raised alarms about the declining state of South African airline operations and the reliability of their systems, sparking worries about a potential crisis in the nation’s aviation industry.

Wider Issues

The chaos at Cape Town International Airport reflects a larger trend of concerns regarding the reliability of South Africa’s aviation infrastructure. At the same time, there are growing worries about the fuel supply at OR Tambo International Airport. Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) confirmed on Sunday, January 19, that industry players were working together to ensure a steady jet fuel supply to OR Tambo following a fire at the Natref refinery on January 4, 2025.

Currently, OR Tambo has 27.1 million litres of jet fuel, enough for about 7.6 days. To meet the daily demand of 3.6 million litres, various stakeholders, including the Fuels Industry Association of Southern Africa, Natref, and government bodies, are collaborating to secure 97.2 million litres of jet fuel for February.

In an interview with Eyewitness News, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe stated, “Government-owned PetroSA, which is actually supplying jet fuel, was never given access to major airports. It is only supplying jet fuel to two small airports, that is East London and George. It’s easy to point fingers, but if you don’t create an enabling space for parties to play, you’ll see that when there’s a crisis. So the fact that PetroSA is not allowed to bring jet fuel to major airports should not be made an excuse when there’s a crisis.”

OR Tambo International Airport has been dealing with some tough times lately. Back in December, travelers experienced long immigration lines because the Biometric Movement Control System was acting up due to a technical issue.

To make matters worse, there was a system failure on December 9, 2024, which threw a wrench in airline operations. This glitch impacted 483 flights and around 49,429 passengers, leading to the cancellation of 31 flights.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is stepping up to tackle the issues plaguing major airports in South Africa. They’re pushing for an urgent hearing with the parliamentary transport committee, where they want Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy and Acsa's top management to come in and discuss the crisis at hand and what steps are being taken to fix it.

The DA said, “It is unacceptable that flights are being grounded at South African airports due to failures by entities within the Department of Transport. It simply cannot continue.”

“This week, flights were delayed and diverted at Cape Town International Airport due to a fuel pump failure under the management of Airports Company South Africa. Earlier this month, alarming reports revealed that Acsa has fuel supply at OR Tambo International Airport only until the end of January 2025, raising grave concerns about operational stability in February.”

The DA pointed out that Creecy's attempts to tackle the issues in the aviation sector haven't been enough, and they believe a major revamp is needed to stop more disruptions from happening.

“The instability at our airports undermines business confidence and it cannot continue. Last year, during critical peak tourist season, repeated failures by Air Traffic Navigation Services disrupted flights and cost South Africa much-needed tourism revenue.”

“We cannot allow this pattern of incompetence to hamstring our economy further. Every grounded plane represents lost revenue, weakened investor confidence, and damage to South Africa’s global reputation,” the party said. 

FlySafair's efforts miss the mark for some passengers  

In response to the disruptions and flight cancellations due to the power outage at Cape Town International Airport, FlySafair put out a statement about adding extra flights for those impacted by earlier cancellations.  

However, not everyone was satisfied with the outcome. One passenger, author and publisher Melinda Ferguson, encountered major issues. She was set to lead a writing retreat at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha and had a flight booked back to Cape Town on Wednesday, January 22, at 6:15 pm. Unfortunately, she didn’t get any updates from FlySafair regarding her flight.  

Even after checking in online and keeping an eye on the FlySafair app, which indicated everything was on schedule and sent alerts like “boarding is closing,” the reality at the airport was quite different when she arrived.

Ferguson went up to the check-in desk to switch her seat, but they directed her to the FlySafair desk instead. There, she learned that “the Cape Town airport was closed due to a fuel shortage.” She described the situation at the PE Airport as “total mayhem,” with a long line and what looked like a newbie staff member trying to help passengers. When she asked to be put on another flight, the staffer told her to check her SMS for a link to rebook.

Unfortunately, Ferguson found that the link didn’t work. Her requests for other options, like a refund or even just a bottle of water, were turned down. Despite the madness, she was lucky that the retreat organizer sorted out her accommodation and transport.

Still, she worried about other travelers who weren’t as lucky and mentioned, “I just felt that the communication was so badly handled by FlySafair, who claim to be the most on-time airline in the world at times.”

Linden Birns, the managing director of the aviation consultancy Plane Talking, emphasizes that effective crisis communication starts with recognizing a crisis and having a solid grasp of the situation. He mentioned two major hurdles in this process.  “First is overcoming, or shortening, the latency that always exists, i.e. the time it takes from being made aware that something has happened, developing a clear understanding of what actually happened … getting organised and delivering your response, including communicating with the various affected and interested people and entities,”  he explained. 

Birns also highlighted that any equipment or system can fail, so organizations need to factor this into their ongoing risk assessments. “We can anticipate that things might go pear-shaped and plan for such eventualities, (although it is impossible to plan for every potential eventuality), he noted. 

He pointed out that advancements in media and technology have changed what people consider an acceptable timeframe for service-oriented organizations, both public and private, to acknowledge a crisis and provide trustworthy information. “The air transport sector comprises many moving parts that airlines rely on, but do not control, e.g. airlines are not responsible for airport refuelling equipment and infrastructure. Neither do they oversee airspace management and most often, they rely on ground handling service providers for ground operations. So when a failure occurs in any of those domains, airlines depend on the relevant service provider or agency to deliver prompt and accurate alerts and subsequent situation reports,” he added.

The next hurdle is getting in touch with customers. Most airlines have systems set up to quickly reach out to customers, usually through personal messages like SMS or WhatsApp. However, for this to work well, customers need to share their mobile numbers. If you're booking through a travel agent or a corporate travel department, make sure your mobile number is included in the reservation, not just the agent's contact info. Birns mentioned that while airline apps are getting more advanced and can do a lot, those with features beyond just booking and check-in are mostly found with major international airlines.