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Severe tariff hikes and increases in landing fees have allowed the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to return to profitability. ACSA yesterday reported a R188m net profit in the year ended March 31 2012, turning around the R221m loss experienced in the previous financial year.

While clearly profiting from its ridiculous fees, the partially state-owned ACSA is slowly but surely pricing itself out of global markets at the expense of South Africa’s tourism and economic competitiveness.

According to ACSA, the 69.6% increase in fees since December 2010 was necessary to pay for, among others, the construction of King Shaka International Airport and the revamp of the other major airports - OR Tambo, Cape Town International, Port Elizabeth and East London. In a recent presentation to the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, ACSA conceded that South African airports are now between the 3rd and 9th most expensive airports in the world.

This is simply unacceptable.

Moreover Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, at the Hotel and Investment Conference Africa (HICA) in May this year, queried and lamented the fact that “why should we (South Africa) be the third most expensive destination in the world when it comes to landing fees?” He also stated rather plainly that it was time the “unreasonable and unjustified” expensive landing fees at airports were brought under control.

Clearly Minister van Schalkwyk and his colleague, Transport Minister, Ben Martins need to have a conversation with each other. As it stands, they do not seem to be singing off the same hymn sheet.

Minister Martins must call for an urgent review of ACSA’s tariff structure and whether the public stake in ACSA remains warranted if they fail to act in the public interest.

ACSA cannot be allowed to profit from its ludicrous price hikes while holding South Africa’s tourism sector and economy hostage.