Enough already: Tourism sector and airlines won’t survive any more hiccups

The last thing South Africa – and more specifically our tourism sector – needs right now is more problems with anything to do with our aviation.

Airline setbacks

Delayed flights

After last month’s panic where the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) suspended kulula and British Airways domestic flights due to safety concerns, on the back of two years of damage to the airline and tourism due to the impact of Covid-19, we don’t need any further hiccups.

Yesterday, flights were delayed at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport for many hours, leaving passengers fuming after an apparent technical glitch with the fuel hydrant system.

While plans to tanker fuel to the aircraft were made, the delays had a huge knock-on effect for passengers returning from holidays and weekends away, or making their way back to cities for the work week ahead.

Comair suspension

Last month, Sacaa suspended Comair flights due to safety concerns.

It caused all sorts of chaos as flights on other airlines were difficult to find, and when people did, they had to fork out far more money than usual due to the demand.

The suspension lasted for five days. It made a mess of bookings and, no doubt impacted the tourism sector.

READ: Comair’s wings still clipped as SACAA awaits outstanding information

Enough already

We understand there will be obstacles from time to time, but our tourism and airline industries cannot afford any further setbacks.

They’ve both been through enough.

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