Civil Aviation Industry Awards 2025

By Garth Calitz

On 14 November 2025, the South African civil aviation community came together in Gauteng for the third instalment of the glittering Civil Aviation Industry Awards (CAIA), hosted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA). The event, now firmly established as the sector’s premier celebration, honoured both individuals and organisations for their outstanding contributions across a range of categories from safety and security to innovation, transformation and people development.

The CAIA dinner was more than just a red-carpet affair: it was a powerful recognition of aviation professionals whose day-to-day work keeps South Africa's skies safe, efficient and forward-looking. Keynote remarks came from Poppy Khoza, Director of Civil Aviation at SACAA, who emphasised that while the public often thinks aviation equals pilots, the reality involves a vast network of air-traffic controllers, engineers, ground-service providers, security teams and of course the regulators.

Khoza also pointed out that aviation safety is not just a regulatory achievement, “these gains are a collective effort, not just SACAA’s,” she said, underscoring the shared role of the industry in maintaining high safety standards.

Another major theme of the evening was, as always, transformation. SACAA Executive for Corporate Services, Phindiwe Gwebu, noted that while the industry is making progress, change needs to accelerate. She shared that SACAA is supporting long-term transformation efforts by sending students to study abroad: in 2025, four promising individuals began four-year aviation-related degree programmes in China covering meteorology, flight operations, air traffic management and more. These kinds of initiatives are part of SACAA’s broader strategy to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds, ensuring future generations of aviators are both skilled and diverse.

After a short address by SACAA board chairman Ernest Khosa, in which he urged continued collaboration across airlines, airports, maintenance organisations, training institutions and regulators, all of whom must work in step to build a more inclusive, safer and innovative aviation sector in South Africa.

With all formalities concluded, it was time to proceed to the significant task of recognising excellence. The first category was Aviation Safety. Cape Town International Airport achieved 2nd runner-up, with Lanseria International Airport taking the 1st runner-up position and ExecuJet taking the first of many wins for the night.

The Aviation Security Award went much the same way, with ExecuJet taking top honours, followed by FlySafair and Cape Town International Airport

The Aircraft Operator Award Saw Laseria taking the top spot, with FlySafair in second and Execujet taking the 2nd runner-up position.

In the Airport Award, there were only two entrants: Lanseria, who were awarded the 1st runner-up spot and Cape Town International Airport, who were crowned the winner.

This concluded the initial part of the proceedings, allowing us to enjoy the delicious food accompanied by entertainment from a violin and dance trio.

The second segment of the awards kicked off with the Award for Aviation Sustainability and Environment. Lanseria Airport walked away with on top, with King Shaka International Airport second and FlySafair in third.

In the category for Aviation Innovation, FlySafair were adjudged the winner, ATNS Datalink Solution came in second, followed by Lanseria International Airport and Agridrone, who shared Third place.

Skyy Aviation Academy were named the best small to medium organisation for Aviation Training

In the medium to large Aviation Training organisations, the ATNS Training Academy edged FlySafair ATO for the win.

ExecuJet were crowned the Aviation Customer Services King with FlySafair and King Shaka International Airport nipping at their heels

Scientific Multidisciplinary Advanced Research Technologies, or SMART for short, were awarded the top honours for Aviation Research and Development. The developers of the Musket Flight Management System came in second.

Airlink were recognised as the Aviation Maintenance Organisation "Top Dogs" with their competitor FlySafair taking second spot.

The Aviation Manufacturing Organisation Award went to Bat Hawk Aircraft. The dedicated team at Bat Hawk has put South African made aircraft squarely on the world stage.

The Balloon and Airship Federation of South Africa were honoured with the Recreational and Sport Aviation Organisation Award. This is a magnificent achievement, considering that BAFSA is the smallest ARO in the country.

The Award for Aviation Support Services was taken by ExecuJet

The Award for People Development Award was a tight battle with FlySafair coming out on top, ExecuJet in second and Airlink third.

Airlink were adjudged the winner in the Aviation Transformation Category, followed by FlySafair and South African Airways in the runner-up positions.

Blacky Komani is a prominent South African professional with over three decades of experience in the tourism and aviation sectors, received the Aviation Professional Award. Blacky holds several leadership positions, including Non-Executive Director at Cape Winelands Airport and Non-Executive Chairman of Safair Operations. Latty Thlaka, CEO of Aihborne Aviation, was the 1st runner-up with ACSA Nokuthula Mcinga in third.

The co-founder and former CEO/Managing Director of Airlink, Rodger Foster, received an award for Outstanding Contribution to South African Aviation. Rodger stepped down from his CEO role at the end of March 2025 after nearly 33 years, but remains a shareholder and non-executive director of Airlink. Sadly, Rodger wasn't present to receive his award.

This led to what is arguably the most prestigious awards of the evening, the Public Vote for Best Airport and Best Airline and of course, the National Aviation Company of the Year. Cape Town International was the public choice for the best Airport and FlySafair took to spot in the South African Airline realm.

ExecuJet were proclaimed the National Aviation Company of the Year. ExecuJet is a global business aviation company, part of the Luxaviation Group, that specialises in providing Fixed Base Operations (FBOs) and other aviation services across five continents and is a well-deserved winner of this prestigious award.

That brought the formalities to a close and the celebrations commenced with Mfikozolo keeping the jubilant crowd on the dance floor