The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has advised Acsa that the runway at George Airport complies with the necessary standard it requires, following friction and macro texture tests.

On February 15, SACAA issued a formal notice stating that when the runway was wet as a result of rain, commercial airlines would not be allowed to land at the airport until the runway dried out.

The tests were requested as part of SACAA’s formal investigation into the December 7, 2009, Airlink accident at George Airport. The investigation is still under way.

While the runway has now been found to be compliant, the cause of the Airlink accident has not yet been determined conclusively and SACAA is undertaking further research to aid it in its investigations.

Although SACAA has advised that the runway complies with the necessary standards, aircraft now cleared to land at George Airport during rainy conditions are required to meet certain performance characteristics, such as requiring less than the full runway length of two kilometres for safe landing and take-off.

Colin Naidoo, Acsa spokesperson for George Airport said Acsa was extremely pleased with SACAA’s finding and that the restrictions had been lifted.

In a statement, Acsa said it remained hopeful that SACAA would soon be in a position to lift the runway restriction completely.

“We are extremely pleased with the SACAA’s finding and are delighted that the SACAA felt it appropriate to lift the restrictions that have been in place since the 12th February,” said Naidoo.