The South African Department of Transport (DOT) has issued a regulatory change concerning non-scheduled international operations transporting passengers to South Africa. The DOT has introduced enhanced advance passenger information and vetting requirements following a national security assessment that identified elevated risks tied to charter operations and gaps in the application of advanced passenger processing to such flights.

With immediate effect from publication (11 December 2025), any aircraft operator intending to transport twenty (20) or more passengers to South Africa on a non-scheduled international flight must submit a comprehensive passenger and crew manifest for vetting at least 72 hours prior to departure from point of origin. Manifests must be transmitted electronically and on completion of vetting, a designated Immigration Official will issue a Passenger and Crew Manifest Clearance Number to the operator.

This clearance number must be included in the flight plan, and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) will not accept any flight plan lacking this clearance number. Aircraft operators are further required to ensure that all boarding passengers possess the requisite travel documentation and that the details and number of passengers and crew precisely match the cleared manifest at the time of departure. Further to this, the DOT may even request a passenger and cargo manifest even where the passenger count is below the twenty-person threshold.

Failure to comply carries significant operational and enforcement consequences. Flights may be denied entry into South African airspace or prevented from disembarking passengers at any South African airport. Operators may also be liable to pay penalties as stipulated in applicable legislation. In addition, the relevant authority may revoke, suspend, or cancel any authorisation to operate flights to, within, or from South Africa.