Airways NZ and Air Traffic and Navigation Services South Africa (ATNS) have signed an MOU increasing cooperation between the two organisations.

The MOU covers training, billing and technical services. This builds on a very successful collaboration with training and air traffic control recruitment over the last twelve months.

The agreement was signed by Patrick Dlamini, ATNS CEO and Ed Sims, Airways CEO, on Saturday, 23 June 2012, in Rome, Italy.

“New Zealand and South Africa will work together on a range of activities and projects that will build capacity for both organisations. ATNS purchased a Total Control simulator in 2011 which is already allowing for a common training platform between us,” says Airways New Zealand Chief Executive Ed Sims. “Flight Billing is likely to be the first objective, followed by broader software and consultancy services.

ATNS and Airways are also discussing management exchanges to further broader cultural and management understanding.

“Initially this will be in the areas of software and provision of consultancy services but we expect that this will grow over the coming months and years. We are looking forward to working with ATNS to share our knowledge and learn from each other.”

Patrick Dlamini, CEO of ATNS said that ATNS is very excited to enter into this understanding with Airways New Zealand Airways. “This is a further entrenchment of the existing relationship between the two organisations. We have already yielded great success with our past and current collaborations and we are confident that we can only continue to build on this success,” said Mr Dlamini.

“This collaboration is a step in the right direction for ATNS of being the preferred supplier of air navigation services to the African continent and selected markets and can only be a positive step in improving safety in Africa,” said Mr Dlamini.