The International Civil Aviation Organisation has temporarily downgraded Namibian airspace from Class A to G after a controller fell ill on Tuesday and left it unmonitored.
Due to an overtime pay dispute, no other air traffic controllers were willing to fill in and a Notam (Notice to Air Men) was issued to inform aircraft about the situation. The notice was lifted on Wednesday morning when a controller arrived for the normal shift.
Deputy director: Aviation, Administration and Navigation at the Directorate of Civil Aviation, Tobias Günze, who is responsible for signing off the overtime payments, said the downgrade was within ICAO standards. Tobias was quoted in the Namibian press as saying: “By downgrading the airspace, the aviation community was just informed about the type of service they would receive in Namibia. Class G is a recognised ICAO standard - pilots are aware of the services and can operate safely.”
An air traffic controller who asked that his name be withheld said: “Flights from Germany and South Africa had to risk lives flying over our uncontrolled airspace. We could be blacklisted as a result.”
Chris Zweigenthal, CEO of Aasa, said: “This is of very serious concern, as a number of airlines use Namibian airspace. I would assume that the Namibian Directorate of Civil Aviation is working hard to get these staffing issues [sorted] and to ensure safe skies.”
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