Question NW1477 to the Minister of Transport
12 May 2022 - NW1477
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Transport
With regard to the use of the Ladysmith Airport in KwaZulu-Natal for drag racing from 17 March 2022 to 20 March 2022, what are the details of (a) permissions given by the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) for the use of the airport, including the main runway for drag racing, (b) the conditions placed on the airport authority by the SACAA for the use of the airport for drag racing and (c) the SACAA notifications to aircraft (i) owners, (ii) pilots and (iii) airports regarding the closure of the airport?
Reply:
South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)
a) The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) granted permission to the operator to conduct non-aviation operations in line with an application submitted to the SACAA as per the applicable regulations. (b) The approval granted was effective from 06h00 on 19 March to 00h00 on 21 March 2022. The operator was required to comply with a set of requirements before the approval was granted. The Operator was expected to comply with crowd control, communication, general safety and specific arrangements regarding the event (c) (i) (ii) (iii) The initial Notice to Airman (NOTAM) C0769/22 was issued on 15 March 2022 at 10h08 Local time for the 20th of March 2022 to close the Aerodrome from 06h00 to 18h00 Local time. The NOTAM was then cancelled and replaced with NOTAM C0801/22 which was issued on 18 March 2022 at 15h09 Local time for the period 19 March from 06h00 until 20 March 2022 at midnight as per the Promulgation of NOTAM request form CA 175-03 and Indemnity letter. Aerodrome closed for the period 19/03/2022 @ 06:00 till 20/03/2022 @ 23: 59.