Effective immediately, Airlink has temporarily suspended its services between OR Tambo International Airport and Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

The airline said the suspension was directly attributable to the failure of the airport’s navigation beacons.

Services are expected to resume on January 29 once the beacons have been repaired.

“This drastic step is most unfortunate but it is essential in order to allow the airport and its operator, the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, the opportunity to address the ongoing unserviceability of the two non-directional beacons that are essential in guiding aircraft to the runway during times when there is no visibility due to cloud or night time operations,” said Airlink CEO, Rodger Foster.

One of the two beacons has been unserviceable for quite some time, and the second has worked only intermittently for months. There have been attempts to repair the beacons, but it seems that the repairs to date have had limited success.

“There have been several approaches to the airport in cloud conditions where Airlink flights have not been able to descend safely at Mthatha due to the unserviceability of the beacons and have had to divert to East London. This has caused considerable anguish and frustration among our passengers,” he added.

Airlink has, in conjunction with the airport, embarked on a programme to design and publish a new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) instrument approach procedure for Mthatha.

This new instrument approach procedure will be operational by June 1 and will rely solely on airborne navigation equipment.