Grounded optimism — Can Acsa’s turnaround take off?

Speaking at an Airports Company South Africa’s (Acsa) 2025 stakeholder engagement session on Thursday, 19 June, CEO Mpumi Mpofu was candid in framing the company’s challenges – from jet fuel vulnerabilities to delayed upgrades – but aviation experts caution that operational recovery requires more than confidence. 

The event began late, but once under way, Mpofu delivered a technically detailed and upbeat presentation, outlining refurbishment timelines across Acsa’s clusters – the organisation’s term for regions under management – and critical infrastructure issues, emphasising that while the company and industry have experienced challenges, the skies ahead are looking increasingly clear.

“We are reinventing our airports with all of these programmes,” Mpofu said. “We are up, the balance sheet is up after three years – we are looking well.”

Acsa’s messaging was clear: the crisis is over, and delivery is under way, but as experts have outlined, Acsa – and its challenges – does not exist in isolation, and within the aviation industry these trickle across industries and to consumers with rapidity. 

Read more: Aviation experts make ‘damning findings’ against SOE responsible for air traffic in SA skies

Fuelling headwinds

The January 2025 fire at Natref – South Africa’s inland crude supplier and key jet fuel source for OR Tambo International – revealed the fragility of the entire value chain. Airlines were forced to divert inbound flights from OR Tambo International to refuel elsewhere, highlighting the key challenge with jet fuel: not merely capacity, but supply reliability. 

The combination of the fire and the closure of Durban refinery Sapref means that South Africa is highly reliant on jet fuel supplied to the country by sea.

“It pushed us into a position where we are now about 61% import dependent,” Mpofu said, referring to the Natref fire and fear of shortages at the time.

While Acsa touted that additional tank capacity is being accounted for, and that OR Tambo never had less than a three-day reserve of fuel, this does not solve the fundamental challenge along such a linear supply chain so heavily reliant on one commodity.

“The fuel supply chain is not just Acsa’s problem. It involves Transnet pipelines, refiners, importers, resellers and into-plane operators. Acsa can’t fix it alone,” said Linden Birns, MD of Plane Talking, a company that has provided crisis communications training and support to airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, and government agencies worldwide for more than 30 years.

Should a ship supplying fuel – or indeed, several – be late to arrive, the cascading effects to the entire industry could be catastrophic in terms of flight times, costs and consumer frustration.

The ATNS in the room

Mpofu referred only briefly to Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), despite persistent inefficiencies and the suspension of its CEO following a series of operational concerns. The air traffic management entity has been central to several route redesign and bottleneck complaints in recent months.

“We are working closely with ATNS,” Mpofu said, referring to navigational redesigns. ATNS – as does Acsa – sits under the mandate of the Department of Transport, and in response to questions from Daily Maverick, Mpofu was clear that task teams made up of all stakeholders are working hard to resolve the issue.

Navigation delays and poor inter-agency coordination have translated directly into longer flight times, inefficiencies and cost escalations for carriers and, as a result, travellers. For Acsa to succeed, ATNS must also get back on stable footing – a task still under-addressed.

This has an impact on airlines and their profitability as well.

“We only sell one thing – our schedule. The moment schedule integrity is compromised, the product we’re selling collapses,” Airlines Association of Southern Africa CEO Aaron Munetsi told Daily Maverick. 

Read more: Aviation crisis: urgent action needed as South Africa’s air traffic system breaks down

Timelines and tariffs

Acsa earns revenue through two main streams: aeronautical income from airline tariffs (landing, passenger fees, aircraft parking), and non-aeronautical income such as retail, leases and parking. Tariffs are regulated by the Airports Company Act and require approval from the Regulating Committee, which reviews them every five years. The tariff increases fund capex projects, since Acsa isn’t fiscally funded – but they also push up airline costs, making infrastructure delivery and timing a delicate balancing act.

The recovery is also underwritten by a regulatory reprieve. Acsa’s capex ceiling rose from R762-million to more than R2-billion, largely owing to increased tariff approvals.

While this is the case, Birns added a word of caution, noting: “Tariffs are a blunt instrument. If service levels don’t improve quickly, they’ll meet resistance – especially from international airlines.”

While this is where Acsa sources its revenue, it doesn’t take into account how challenges with Acsa and ATNS roll downhill onto the airlines. 

“Up to 29% of the cost of air travel across Africa relates to taxes, fees and charges, many of which are imposed by government entities and airports themselves” Munetsi said.

South Africa in a global context

The International Air Transport Association’s 2025 outlook – which examines global regional financials of airlines – predicted a bleak year for the continent. 

African carriers are projected to post the lowest net margin globally at just 1.1%. Jet fuel remains 17% more expensive than the global average. Only 19% of intra-African routes are direct, a statistic that highlights just how fragmented the continent’s aviation sector remains.

Birns positioned the continent – and South Africa’s market within this context. “It’s not just about OR Tambo or Cape Town. The African aviation market is fragmented, underfunded and highly exposed to forex and fuel price volatility.”

While Acsa’s own reforms may be internally sound, the broader system within which it operates is showing signs of persistent structural risk – something that Acsa can’t overcome alone.

Governance and credibility

Mpofu did not address ongoing public questions over the accuracy of her qualifications. While not the subject of the briefing, the omission remains conspicuous for a state-owned enterprise under scrutiny.

Operational transparency was offered in the form of detailed project timelines and risk mitigation efforts. Birns, however, remains cautious:

“The leadership deserves credit for facing the media and stakeholders directly. But turning the optics around is only one part of the job.”

For a company that holds stewardship over the country’s core aviation assets, public confidence is as important as financial recovery.

There’s momentum, but can Acsa get off the ground?

Mpofu’s roadmap is both necessary and overdue. It is backed by data, procurement processes and operational focus. But success will hinge on more than contracts and contingency fuel reserves and projected changes – improvements are required now.

“Before asking for tariff increases, bring the current infrastructure up to a functional level. Some facilities shut during Covid are still down – years later,” Munetsi said.

Acsa will need to navigate tariff blowback, regional weaknesses, governance questions and fragile public trust if it is to sustain the recovery it claims to have launched.

“It’s about orchestrating a full aviation value chain – not just patching airports,” Birns said. 

Flight delays tied to ATNS inefficiencies can compound logistics expenses. And if Acsa fails to maintain momentum, South Africa risks losing competitiveness in an already embattled regional aviation market.

While Acsa has started its turnaround journey, the runway ahead still has to weather a storm or two. DM