Flight operations at OR Tambo International Airport returned to normal on Wednesday after a tyre-burst incident left Johannesburg’s main hub operating on a single runway for several hours.
Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) said in an evening update:
“We are pleased to confirm that the aircraft has been safely removed and the runway is now fully open. Normal operations are resuming.”
The airport operator also thanked travellers for their patience during the disruption and urged them to keep monitoring flight information channels.
Earlier in the day, ACSA issued a travel advisory confirming that the airport was “currently operating on a single runway after an aircraft experienced a tyre burst” and warning that “runway capacity is reduced and delays may occur” while airline engineers worked on the stricken jet.
Passengers were told to arrive early, check the ACSA app for real-time updates and stay in contact with their airlines for any schedule changes.
According to incident information shared with aviation officials, the affected aircraft aborted its take-off on runway 03L/21R after a tyre burst shortly after 07:00.
Emergency services responded, all passengers were safely evacuated and bussed back to the terminal, and the runway was closed while ground crews removed the plane and inspected the surface.
The flight, understood to have been operating for RwandAir, has not been publicly addressed by the airline, which had issued no statement at the time of writing.
For now, ACSA remains the only official source on the incident and has stressed that operations at OR Tambo are back to normal, even as some knock-on delays work through the system.
Travellers with upcoming OR Tambo flights are still advised to keep checking the ACSA app, airport social channels and their airline notifications for any residual timing changes or gate adjustments linked to Wednesday’s disruption.
