Aviation Watch South Africa (AWSA)

ATNS Fee Increases

In March 2005 the Air Traffic Navigation Services Company Ltd (ATNS) began briefing sessions on their new charges. It is difficult to understand why this happened so late as the Government Gazette with the new tariffs was published in December 2004.

It immediately became obvious that the increases for aircraft over 1 200 kg and for those under 1 200 kg based at the Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg International Airports were enormous.

A number of pilots saw that there was a need for a response to this threat to general aviation, recreational, training and light commercial. All supported the formation of the Cape Town based Aviation Watch Action Committee (AWAC) which took the lead in this matter.

After many hours and late nights AWAC, ably chaired by Paul van Tellingen, produced an official complaint which was delivered to ATNS on 31 March 2005. Copies of the documents can be found through the links below.

Those involved with this issue identified the necessity for a method to disseminate information quickly. This has lead to the birth of this forum.

The AWAC documentation comprised:

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The South African Power Flying Association (SAPFA) also made a submission to ATNS. A copy can be found on theRepresentation page of the SAPFA web site

Due to the significance of this matter a number of organisations have joined forces to address this matter. These organisations are The Aero Club of SA, The Commercial Aviation Association of SA, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Aviation Action Forum of SA and Aviation Watch Action Committee. A joint committee of these bodies has had a number of meetings and has appointed Paul van Tellingen as the Co-ordinator of this "Quad" grouping.

A response has been received by way of a letter from the CEO of ATNS, Ms Wrenelle Stander. It also became know that ATNS had published a further Government Gazette which did not change the tariffs but expanded on certain definitions and introduced clarifications that had the effect of increasing the fees. The major change introduced by the Gazette was to introduce the concept of a fee per circuit as well as the right to request interest free deposits from users.

The letter from Ms Stander required a response three working days after issue. The letter proposed three "refinements" to the tariff structure. The letter contained minimum detail of the proposed changes and a few worked examples. The examples showed that there would be a nominal decrease in the fees for any specific flight

Despite the short notice the Quad grouping had been able to organise further meetings and consultations. The refinements are not acceptable and the Quad has responded accordingly. AWAC and SAPFA have also responded on behalf of their members

The ball was placed directly in the ATNS court. It was hoped that there would be some positive resolution as GA anger was on the increase. For the first time there is discussion about protests, blockades and other illegal behaviours. This is of great concern. To quote SAPFA response - "Only one mid air collision with an airliner will make the fees that ATNS is trying to recover from general aviation seem very insignificant. We repeat our feelings as expressed in our initial submission. Do not let a bad tariff structure compromise aviation safety."

Unfortunately ATNS ignored the submissions and by 4 May 2005 there had been no response. Attorneys therefore addressed a letter to the Chairperson of the Regulating Committee requesting action. Mr M Sizwe was requested to respond by 11 May 2005.

ATNS issued a new Gazette that contained the "refinements". There were also other amendments that clarified certain issues and also tightened up on administrative issues. ATNS also announced that aircraft under 5000 kg on a VFR flight plan will be exempted from the Area charge. It was difficult to understand how ATNS could make announcements like this without an official notice being published. By granting this relief ATNS was now not complying with the promulgated tariffs.

As expected there was no response from the Regulating Committee. Prior to applying to Court for relief the various groupings have requested a meeting with the Minister of Transport. The Minister has, in a speach, recognised that there is a problem but has not indicated what solutions he is proposing, if any.

The new fees had the effect of aircraft not talking or squawking to ATNS. This was causing a dangerous situation, especially in busy airspace. AWSA reccomended that such behaviour be reported via the Confidential Aviation Hazard Reporting System. The CAHRS Form(pdf 107 kb) can be completed without the mention of aircraft registrations or call signs. It was hoped that such reports would bring the issue to the attention of the authorities.

Representatives of General Aviation then met with the senior management of ATNS on 23 June 2005. A joint press release was issued.

Two further meetings were held with ATNS in attendance. The first was a meeting held on 15 August 2005 where Paul van Tellingen, on behalf of General Aviation, presented a proposal for an alternative fee structure which is passenger/payload based know being called CPTS (Commercial Payload Tariff Structure). This structure was been based on extensive research and simulation by Paul using a very sophisticated model developed by him. This led to a further meeting of this body (now called the Tariff Consultative Body) on 25 August 2005 in Johannesburg to examine possible alternatives to the existing tariff structure. The meeting was attended by representatives of GA, ATNS, AASA, IATA and BARSA and explored as to what constituted common ground to allow further quantitative analysis to determine the feasibility of a generally accepted solution. During that meeting GA expressed the concern that if the momentum of progress was not maintained with a revised tariff structure evolving in the near future, economic and safety issues can cause irreparable damage to the GA industry. A number of GA businesses were failing and there wass further concern as to the damage the deteriorating safety will cause to our ratings with the International aviation community in the run up to 2010.

ATNS also promulgated another Gazette with new tariffs that came into effect on 1 August 2005. The new tariffs are only refinements of the old structure and did not give any substantial relief to GA. A tariff calculator based on that Gazette is attached below.

After numerous meetings of the Tariff Consultative Body a compromise tariff structure has been agreed upon. This agreement has been ratified by the Regulator and will be implemented with effect from 1 April 2005. In term of this new tariff structure all aircraft under 5 000 kg will be zero rated for purposes of ATNS fees except in the Johannesburg TMA and airfield. This applies to VFR and IFR flights.

The process has had a number of spin-offs for general aviation. For the first time there has been a unification of all general aviation bodies. It has also shown a generally accepted solution can be found if all bodies are involved and apply their mind to an isssue while taking into account the broader issues and possible long term effects of decisions made by the parastatals.

The Gazette has been published and is effective from 3 May 2006. This matter can now be regarded as being finalised.

The validity of Govenrment Notice 679 has been extended to apply to 2 May 2006 to ensure there is no period where no Notice is in force.

Contact AWSA at awsa@awsa.co.za if you would like any of these documents faxed to you or supplied in another format.