PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plett is ready to spread its wings again after its airport regained level 4 certification, allowing commercial flights to resume.

Earlier this year, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) downgraded the airport to level 2 status.

This resulted in the grounding of all commercial flights in and out of the airport, as this grading does not allow commercial flights.

Airline operator CemAir, which has been offering flights between Plettenberg Bay and major city centres for the past seven years, had to suspend all of its flights into the town in August due to the downgrade.

The reason for the downgrade was the ongoing failure of the airport to address outstanding issues from Sacaa inspections, some several years old.

Since the downgrade, CemAir and the Bitou Municipality, together with the owner of the airport, Bitou Municipality, have collaborated to rectify all identified non-conformances.

On Tuesday 9 November, Bitou Municipality announced that the level 4 status had been restored. "This is very pleasing and will certainly have a positive impact on our tourism," the announcement read. "We are expecting a bumper festive season and the fact that we will now have direct flights into Plettenberg Bay will be a big plus to the economy of the town.

"We thank all those involved in restoring the status of the Plettenberg Bay airport to the satisfaction of the Sacaa."

The municipality said its strategic partnership with CemAir was crucial in resolving the matter.

"We appreciate the effort they put in to assist us in resolving the severe findings that led to the downgrading in August."

After the issues were addressed, the final inspection was concluded on Friday 29 October.

According to CemAir's representatives, flights are scheduled to commence this Friday, 12 November.

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