Praslin motorists urged to comply with traffic lights’ signals next to domestic airport |01 March 2022

One set of traffic lights next to the Praslin domestic airport

In the interest of the safety of flights and welfare of the public, motorists on Praslin are being urged to comply with the traffic lights positioned at the stretch of road leading to the domestic airport at Amitié, Grand Anse.

This is after the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) has recorded two occurrences recently, whereby motorists have not adhered to the two traffic lights’ signals which are directly in the approach and departure path of operating aircraft.

SCAA’s aviation safety manager Kisnan Tamatave said the positions of these traffic lights serve to ensure that the approach path in case of a landing aircraft or the departure path in case of a departing aircraft is cleared of any object that would constitute a hazard to air navigation.

Additionally, it would help to minimise the impact of adverse consequences in case of an incident or accident upon approach or departure of aircraft.

“Hence, not adhering to the signals is a direct violation of the airspace regulations and airside safety management,” he added.

“We can never predict when an incident will happen, but we can reduce the risk of it happening or reduce its severity if it ever happens. Traffic lights have been installed as a mitigation strategy and drivers are requested to respect them and in doing so assist SCAA in its safety management strategy of aircraft operations at Praslin Airport,” Mr Tamatave said.

The sets of traffic lights are controlled by the SCAA’s air traffic controller based at the Praslin control tower.

The traffic lights normally remain on green, and the controller will manually switch them to red when an aircraft is landing or taking off from the airport. The controller will then switch them back to green as soon as an aircraft lands or in the case of take-off in the direction of the road, as soon as the airborne traffic crosses the road.

In 2019, before Covid-19, there was a joint site visit with the Seychelles Land Transport Agency regarding the introduction of a drop-down barrier to accompany the traffic lights as a measure to ensure that all vehicles stop when the lights turn red. The plan has been delayed due to financial difficulties; however, it is still being considered.

Press release from SCAA