South Africa ATC and the World Cup

[RAWLAW]

As we have been here since 1 July operating from FACT to FAPE and FALA I would say all has gone very well. The system and its people managed the traffic well HOWEVER last night going to FALE was a complete failure. Earlier in the day the CTOT/slots awards were all cancelled. It was a process of call when ready. FACT had 120 minute+ startup delays. Once underway the otherd shoe dropped. Inbound holding and subsequently FALE closed down. ATC could not provide any effective information on the extent of the closure other than to say all ramps were full. FADN (the old Durban airport) remained unavailable. Apparently about a dozen aircraft were turned away including one of the FIFA corporate plane, FIFA 3. He went to Lansaria. So many disappointed soccer fans that planned on going could not. These, like my boss, pumped alot of money into the economy here. What is obvious is that proper planning for all aircraft was not accomplished. The opportunity to utilize both airports, FALE and FADN, was not utilized. Truly a huge mess!!!!!
BTW, as the news is reporting just a few aircraft did not get in trust me it was closer to a dozen. At least 5 headed back to FACT while others went to FALA!!!

[EltorroLoco]

Hi Raw

Thx for the feedback

I'm an approach controller at Tambo and understand your frustration. Our system seems to be quite effective up to about 80% capacity, any more than that and things fall apart.

FAJS has been operating very well, but then again, we are used to high traffic volumes and the weather has played ball as well. Without an ILS, if FALA had been IMC ever you would still have been holding.

This same mess happened the week before, although not to the same scale, so I'm not sure why lessons were not learnt. I also have no idea why the CAMU appeared to be non existent with flights still departing although FALE was full or why the arrival controllers didn't phone the other aerodromes to halt their deps.

I hope all this comes out in an investigation so we can all learn from this occurence. I also hope you contact the OPS management with your feedback to aid them in detecting the weaknesses in our system.

Enjoy the last day - plenty parking where we are :ok:

[Martin Barnes]

We have been in SA for six weeks now and have enjoyed an fantastic service
from the atc, the fac guys and most of all the slot guys who have gone out of their way to get us the slot we needed (even the irish guy !!!!!)

compared to the crap we get with slot delays and strikes in the EU airspace
the south africans have done a wonderful job in the face of much higher traffic levels than normal.

many thanks from the crew of Clifton Nine.

[121,9_za]

hey Clifton nine - was a pleasure talking to you guys!! And thanks for the kind words. Me thinks it went off very well, for a tiny little country on the tip of Africa, we did our people proud :)

BTW - loved the accent, sounded so very posh!!! :)

Be safe,
121,9