New regulations, expected to pass into law, could put an end to guests accessing South African lodges by air, and could put charter airlines operating in the country out of business. While it’s not known when the new regulations would come into effect, they are expected to be passed soon.

The Proposal for the Amendment of Part 139 of the Civil Aviation Technical Standards, 2011 will place greater regulation on all airstrips, including those in game reserves.

The amendment seeks to have all airstrips both licensed and firefighter compliant. Previously, Part 135 of the Civil Aviation Technical Standards allowed smaller aircraft to be self-regulating in their operations at unlicensed airstrips. The new amendment will mean that airstrips will have to comply with the standards before smaller aircraft are allowed to operate there. Should the bill be passed and airstrips do not comply with the standards set out in the proposed amendment, it will be illegal for airlines to land at these airstrips.

Rudi van Schalkwyk, CEO of Federal Airlines, explained that for the airstrips to be compliant, lodge owners, who own or lease the airstrips, will need to cover additional costs and the regulatory process could take years. Not only would the lodge owners need to license an airfield (which can take anything from a month to a couple of years, depending on the standards already in place), but they would need to hire and train a firefighting staff complement.

While the amendment has not been passed into law, Federal Airlines applied for a dispensation last year when the proposal was published, which protects its operations till June this year. The dispensation is on the basis that the airline provides firefighting elements at the airfields they fly to in the Kruger, Phinda, and Madikwe areas.

Eugene Mostert, Responsible Person Operations for Federal Airlines, warns that a year after implementation, three-quarters of companies flying to airstrips will go out of business. Federal Airlines flies between 4 500 and 5 000 passengers a month to lodge destinations.

Should the amendment become law, guests may decide that flying to a lodge is uneconomical, warns Bruce Jenkins, Owner of RockFig Airstrip, which services Bateleur Main and Mobile Camp, Kings Camp, Tanda Tula camp, Kambaku Safari Lodge, Umlani Bushcamp, and RockFig Safari Lodge. He said that to fund the necessary elements needed for compliance, such as 24/7 firefighters, the additional cost would likely be passed on to guests. “Guests would have to pay extra and they may decide that it’s better to rather go on safari somewhere else,” said Jenkins. He said if the lodge was to absorb the costs, it might result in reducing the number of staff already employed.

Industry expect the regulations to soon become law as the process has been somewhat fast-tracked. The amendment was previously published for comment, however it was not opened to comment in its most recent proposal in November. Responding to a query from industry, South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority said: “We sympathise with the fact that the industry has to scrutinise and submit comments on a vast number of proposals, and this is a task that cannot be taken lightly. However, due to the time constraints we are faced with, it was conveyed at Civil Aviation Regulations Committee that we will not follow the normal process of sending proposals to subcommittees for scrutiny.”

Van Schalkwyk said that Federal Airlines was not objecting the licensing of airfields but felt that firefighting compliance should be determined on an individual basis.