Air connectivity in and out of South Africa, particularly into the continent, will be severely hamstrung for the foreseeable future.
This is because air service rights body the International Air Services Council (IASC) is presently without members.
The IASC board’s term ended in March and to date, no new board has been constituted. Current over-border rights holders include most state-owned companies like SA Airways, SA Express and Mango – but private
sector companies are eyeing the routes with interest because they believe they can make them pay.
“Without the IASC, nobody is able to apply, engage or even have any route rights application processed,” says Airlink chief executive Rodger Foster.
This means had the state’s carriers been operating international routes, all other airlines would be excluded from submitting any kind of application while nobody is home at the council.
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“This is counterproductive for the SA economy and certainly not in the national interest to have limited connectivity between our country and several key economic partners,” says Foster.
When an airline is awarded traffic…