SAA cancels Mauritius flights following latest travel ban

South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled all of its flights to and from Mauritius following the imposition of a travel ban on South Africa by the Mauritian government.

Restrictions were also placed on at least five other Southern African countries after local scientists announced the discovery of the Omicron variant last week.

SAA interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo said despite efforts to help passengers – who were still allowed to travel to Mauritius by Sunday – the airline was forced to cancel the inbound flight.

“After long planning with the team in ensuring that we dispatch a bigger aircraft to and from Mauritius to ensure that we serve as many customers as possible… we’ve received notification from the Mauritian government imposing a travel ban on incoming travellers from South Africa,” said Kgokolo.

The CEO added that customers scheduled to travel to the island country would be assisted by the airline.

Kgokolo said change was the new normal, and SAA needed to be as agile as possible to meet customer needs and keep travellers informed of changes in regulations regarding travel restrictions.

“The SAA team remains committed to fulfilling travel plans. We have made flexible changes to accommodate all our customers who have been affected by all these unforeseen travel restrictions,” Kgokolo said.

“It has been a long two days in the airline industry, and it’s been no different for South African Airways,” he said.

The airline assured customers travelling to other countries that it would offer vouchers and refunds to customers should any new travel restrictions be implemented on the country.

“Our customers are allowed one free change on their alternate future travel date. We regret the inconvenience caused to you and your loved ones. We hope to be able to revert to normal operations.

On Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on countries to “urgently” reverse “scientifically unjustified” travel restrictions linked to the discovery of a new variant of the Covid-19.

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney

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