Chief Executive Officer of South Africa’s Air Traffic Navigation Services, Thabani Mthiyane has said Africa has become a scrap yard for aircraft that have outlasted their utility in Europe. He called on leaders on the continent to assure their presence at the table of decision making.
He said during his interview in Accra the irony of the situation is that western countries ban them from flying to their territories after dumping such aircraft in Africa. He is also the Vice Chair of CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization.
He added, if you look at the Chapter 2 aircraft as far as the International Civil Aviation Organization regulations is concerned, they are banned from Europe.
Thabani continued, the worst part is that most of these aircraft are actually coming from Europe. They use Africa as a dumping zone. When they don’t need them anymore they bring them Africa and tell us you can’t fly them to the West.
He explained that the chapter two aircraft are believed to release more pollution and have higher noise levels than modern fleet of planes, by ICAO experts. They are frequently older subsonic jet aero planes.
Mthiyane, who was appointed to the CANSO Council only this year said we must take our position at the top table and we will not allow Europe and other Western countries make a decision for us.
