International flights suspended at Lanseria Airport
RANDBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that international flights to Lanseria Airport would be suspended.
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In an address to the nation to discuss the state of the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa on 23 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that international flights to Lanseria International Airport would be suspended.
This is in an effort to contain the virus and slow down its spread in the country by limiting the number of visitors to the country by stopping international travel from high-risk countries.
“This is a decisive measure to save millions of South Africans from infection and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The president also announced that international travellers who arrived in South Africa after 9 March from high-risk countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day quarantine period.
Before the nationwide lockdown, the grounding of flights at Lanseria International Airport was not something new.
Very recently, a small six-seater aeroplane was grounded at the airport with British travellers on it due to coronavirus fears.
The travellers, who were reportedly travelling around southern Africa to celebrate a birthday, were forced by Home Affairs officials to be confined to their aeroplane for three days on the runway of the airport.
This after the UK was deemed a high-risk country and flights and travellers were banned from South African ports of entry.
The national lockdown will come into effect from Thursday and would be in place for at least 21 days.
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