Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) yesterday said it would conduct a detailed investigation to determine the root cause of the fuel supply incident at the OR Tambo International Airport in a bid to evaluate any liability before it could consider claims for compensation by passengers and airlines inconvenienced by the breakdown of its fuel supply system on Monday.

Acsa said while the investigation was ongoing, it cannot take responsibility for associated costs until the technical report was finalized.

“Until the investigation is concluded and the report finalized, passengers are advised to contact their airlines for claims, while airlines can submit third-party claims to Acsa for insurance evaluation,” Acsa said.

“Our position is that liability for refunds or associated costs depends on the findings of the ongoing technical investigation. The responsibility will be evaluated based on the root cause of the incident, including whether it was due to maintenance issues or operational wear.”

The State-owned airports company confirmed having received a formal request from FlySafair for a refund of passenger charges for delayed flights stemming from the refuelling incident on Monday.

“At this stage, we cannot specify areas of compensation, as this will depend on the findings of the investigation. Acsa board and CEO have requested a forensic investigation into the matter, and until this is concluded and the report finalized, Acsa is unable to provide a response,” it said.

“However, we will continue to keep our stakeholders informed of any updates and share the relevant findings once the investigation is complete.”

The fuel supply disruption, which threw all the flights schedule on Monday, was due to a drive shaft that sheared, and which prevented the pumping of jet fuel from storage tanks to the aprons that enables the re-fuelling of aircraft.

Acsa said the disruption directly impacted approximately 177 flights and 22 073 passengers between 09h05 and 13h01 when flights resumed.

“The total impact on the Acsa network was 483 flights and 49 429 passengers as well as 31 flights cancelled for the day. This took place against an estimated total number of 1 500 flights and 110 000 passengers which are normally processed through Acsa’s network daily,” it said.

FlySafair has said the three hours of the refuelling issue was preventable and wishes to hold Acsa accountable for its actions acknowledging that mechanical problems happen occasionally, but the airline’s passenger fees cover these service fee costs.

“We feel that by virtue of the fact that this entirely preventable issue came to pass, the airports company didn’t effectively honour the contract or the job that they seek to offer their clients,” said Kirby Gordon, the FlySafair spokesperson.

“And so we believe that it’s a reasonable request to say that those customers, at the very least deserve their money back.”

At the briefing on its annual peak season update yesterday, Acsa CEO Mpumi Mpofu said delays in infrastructure development were the result of funding challenges and approval hold-ups.

Mpofu said amongst major inhibitions was the steady increase in the jet fuel price, which now made up about 30% of the bottom line when it should have been in the 15% to 20% range of bottom line, but was spurred on by scarcity of the commodity due to conflicts.

She said the industry was also constrained by the backlog of aircraft manufacturers which went back several years and had an impact on ticket prices.

“The shortage of fleet is a new issue that we realise is constraining the industry. There are constraints around supply and the backlogs of manufacturers run into the years,” Mpofu said.

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