The Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA) and several stakeholders in the aviation sector have committed to grow and improve the industry in South Africa.

This follows appeals from various industry leaders for the expedited digitalisation of regulations to ensure the smooth movement of both airlines and passengers within the country as it prepares to host the G20 Summit later this year. These appeals were made during the 2025 BARSA Summit at the Skukuza Safari Lodge in Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga.

The BARSA summit served as a platform for leaders in the aviation industry, airline companies and policymakers to collaborate on strategies to advance the sector in the country.

The goal is to maximize its role as a key driver of the nation’s economy and tourism. Chief Commercial Officer at South Africa Airways, Tebogo Tsimane says the summit has come at the right time.

“It is knowledge sharing in areas where we are not necessarily competing with one another on. We are all affected equally. So, inviting economist to come and talk to us, to invite other stakeholders in the space of aviation fuel, safety regulation so that as we plan our next move as airlines, we are well informed about what is it that will actually become an impediment to our plans and what we can actually take advantage of to improve our operation.”

Despite the challenges facing the sector, the South African market has successfully attracted foreign airline companies such as Norse Atlantic Airways. The company’s Head of Airport Relations, Vishal Aggarwal says they are currently performing well despite initial challenges.

“It was difficult at first. So when we decided to go ahead, we started to put some flights up for sale and our team, my colleagues are working on the background to have the flying permits in place, operation challenges, working with SARS, working with CEA, working with different departments to make sure that we get there. We finally got there and I must say thanks to the entire team at North Atlantic and Cape Town has been performing fantastically well for us.”

BARSA Chairperson Bali Mmusi-Mabena say they are advocating for the full adoption of technology in the aviation sector.

“We are moving to a paperless environment. We are looking at e-gates. If you go internationally, you will realize that it is a trend across major countries that are transforming. We want to make sure that as you go through our borders, it is seamless. We are tired of long queues; we are tired of seeing the images that are taking on social media that suggest that we are still behind.”

The Border Management Authority (BMA) Commissioner, Dr Mike Masiapato endorsed the call to adopt technology in the country’s ports.

“People can just be able to come through into the airport and be able to just use their passport, scan the passport and be able to enter the country without having to even interact with an immigration officer, particularly those people that are not necessarily having any challenge. For example, the returning South Africans when they land at the airport, there’s no any other requirement except the passport. So, on that basis that they just have to go scan the passport and be able to walk into the country. So, we are discussing those kinds of technologies but also to make sure that we have better networks across the airports so that when we start to manage the movement of people, we don’t have to deal with the issues of system downtime,”

The summit is part of the country’s preparations for the G20 summit.