Bitou municipality, the owner and operator of Plettenberg Bay Airport in South Africa' s Western Cape Province, has rescinded a previous directive ordering CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) to cease all activities at the airfield by April 13.
The municipality had issued the directive earlier this month citing CemAir's alleged failure to pay a ZAR30,000 rand (USD2,488) monthly fixed fee for landing and parking as per an "agreement" that it claimed to have had in place since April of last year. The airline subsequently disputed the claim stating that no such agreement had ever been formalized and that the fee being demanded was part of a payment offer proposed to the municipality but to which it never formally acceded.
Following the public falling out, the two parties met on March 22 during which the municipality agreed to lift CemAir's suspension of activities at Plettenberg Airport in return for it using it similar to that of a normal client/user, paying the applicable approved landing and parking fees.
On the issue of unpaid passenger fees, CemAir is to forward to the municipality a report detailing its contribution to airport infrastructural upkeep since it started services there in March 2014. It has also disputed the municipality's assessment of dues which it has attributed to an alleged lack of formal agreement between the two parties. As such, this objection will be noted in a final report that is to be submitted by the Acting Municipal Manager, JB Douglas, to Council detailing events that have taken place since CemAir started operations at the airfield in March 2014.
CemAir said in a separate statement that although it notes the municipality’s mandate to collect revenue, it should be fully cognizant of its obligation to service delivery.
"CemAir is absolutely willing to pay reasonable fees for the use of the airfield but this cannot be done in addition to paying operational costs that should be paid by the airport licensee to achieve regulatory compliance and basic functionality," it said. "The operation of an airport requires ongoing management, administration and investment. The user fees collected need to be used to provide maintenance and upkeep of the facility."
In the interim, Bitou municipality has called on other operators to explore the prospect of establishing their own services to Plettenberg Airport. CemAir is currently the only scheduled carrier to serve the facility and had earlier hinted that its withdrawal was imminent given poor returns. As such, it warned Bitou that the addition of more carriers could result in a lose-lose outcome for all parties concerned.
"The reality is that Plettenberg Bay is a thin and marginal route and that it is unlikely to support more than one carrier," CemAir said. "Bitou would be well guided to nurture what has been built over the last four years with CemAir and do everything in its power to ensure the town does not lose its airline service as was the case for the decade before CemAir’s service commenced."
