OR Tambo ready for travellers returning home after festive period

As the festive season draws to a close, transport minister Fikile Mbalula said the OR Tambo International Airport is ready to handle the influx of passengers returning home.

Mbalula conducted an oversight inspection at the airport on Monday following a technical problem that affected fuel supply which delayed flights last week.

The minister said he has been assured that plans are in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Jet fuel shortage

He said airports are strategic assets for South Africa and constitute major economic corridors connecting the country to the rest of the world.

“We are happy to report that those issues are a thing of the past as we have managed to stabilize jet fuel stock levels at all our airports to ensure that we have sufficient fuel to comfortably meet demand even during peak season.”

“The swift manner with which ACSA dealt with the challenge minimised the impact and ensured that flight schedules returned to normal within a reasonable time,” Mbalula said  

Passenger volumes

Mbalula said passenger and traffic volumes have increased at OR Tambo International Airport.

“OR Tambo International Airport handled close to 300 departing air traffic movements per day, both domestic and international, on our busiest days, such as the 14th, 15th and 16th of December last year.”

“The airport processed more than 27 000 departing domestic and international passengers per day on 9, 16 and 23 December 2022, which amounted to a 78% recovery rate form the previous year’s volumes,” he said.

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Airport parking

Mbalula said parking has also improved at the country’s airports.

“We have also focused on upgrading and expanding our parking infrastructure to address areas of congestion and to provide a more efficient and user-friendly parking procedure at our airports.”

We currently have a total of more than 12 000 parking bays at OT Tambo International Airport and all of them are operational,” he added.

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