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Tue 10 December 2024

ACSA confirms smooth travel at O.R. Tambo International Airport with refuelling resolved: operations returned to normal

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) unreservedly apologises to all stakeholders and members of the public for the flight disruptions that occurred at O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) between 09h05 and 12h35 when the fuel valve was manually opened and refuelling restarted at 13h01 on the 9/12/2024. The refuelling technical challenges were resolved, and operations were fully restored.

This disruption directly impacted approximately 177 flights and 22 073 passengers between 09h05 and 13h01 when flights resumed. The knock-on effect of this four-hour delay impacted a further number of flights and passengers, over the 13h00 to 23h00pm period when the backlog was cleared. 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 1500 flights and 110 000 passengers which are normally processed through ACSA’s network daily. Therefore, about a third of the flights were impacted and about half the daily passengers were impacted.

This disruption was due to a drive shaft that sheared (or shattered) as shown in the picture. This prevented the pumping of jet fuel from storage tanks to the aprons, which enables the re-fuelling of aircraft. The repair work was conducted in compliance with rigorous safety procedures. This encompasses depressurisation, drainage of fuel, purging the system of hydrocarbons and associated gasses and the implementation of specialised rigging to ensure the safe completion of work.

The repair work that was completed yesterday at 13h00 has restored the system to normal operating levels. An emergency valve replacement is being co-ordinated to ensure continued reliability of that component.

ORTIA Fuel infrastructure has an extensive approved capital programme involving refurbishment and capacity related projects which are at various stages of implementation. The estimated value of the projects is R1.5 billion. Since the last incident 24 months ago, where the main fuel valve failed, this was subsequently replaced and operation restored. The lessons learnt from this the implementation was that the whole system needed to be overhauled. This took a long time with the regulatory requirements including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval. The bypass also required the Approved Inspection Authority (AIA) sign off, both of which took time.

During mid-2024, the airport implemented a tank configuration modification to allow the airport to receive larger volumes of fuel from the coastal pipeline. Some of the other projects being implemented, which will improve the reliability and provide redundancy of the fuel system are as follows:

· A new twenty-inch jet fuel line which is 1.8km long from the tank farm to the aprons for which construction will start in March 2025 and will be completed by March 2026.

· An additional redundancy through creation of a bypass mechanism, for which designs are completed and is about 9 metres long, is currently being implemented to be completed by February 2025.

The Board of ACSA will be conducting a thorough investigation into this incident and produce a report that indicates the root causes of the incident and take appropriate action to ensure a final solution as the full projects of new and replacement jet fuel line are under implementation. A preliminary incident report is being finalised subject to the laboratory analysis of the metal pieces by the Engineering Team, to establish the reason for the breakage of the drive shaft. This will form the basis of the Detailed investigation conducted by the Board.

“I am happy to report that the refuelling challenges have been resolved and the airport has been operating as normal since yesterday afternoon. The operational backlog that resulted from this issue has been successfully cleared and flights are back on schedule,” explains ACSA CEO, Ms Mpumi Mpofu.

ACSA would like to state emphatically that media reports of a disaster unfolding at OR Tambo International Airport related to the refuelling hitch is overstated and we are ready to receive Tourists, family, businesspeople and travellers to our beautiful country and to connect.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by this situation and thank you for your understanding and patience.

For further information or media inquiries, please contact:

ACSA Media Desk

Mediadesk@airports.co.za

Issued by Airports Company South Africa

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