Airlines India, Indian Airlines

Aircraft flights to Kinshasa will resume on Friday, after the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had stabilised, South African Airways said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Jacqui O’Sullivan said an SAA flight to the DRC was cancelled on Wednesday after public transport in the capital city came “to a standstill”.

This meant airport staff were not able to get to work.

“The situation has now been stabilised and SAA will resume its normal scheduled operations to the DRC as from tomorrow (Friday), unless the situation changes,” said O’Sullivan.

She said the airline would monitor the situation daily, and passengers would be notified of any changes

A South African Express Airways plane en route to Richards Bay from Johannesburg was diverted to Durban on Thursday morning due to a security alert, the carrier said.

Sniffer dogs and the South African Police Service (SAPS) searched the plane and its passengers’ luggage after the 50-seater aircraft was forced to land at Durban International airport early on Thursday morning.

SA Express Airways public relations officer Dileseng Koetle told the Mail & Guardian Online that this was standard police procedure.

Mary Gauche, the carrier’s manager, said the Richards Bay airport had received “a funny call” in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Koetle confirmed this and said that someone external called the airport, “saying stuff that concerned security”.

The acting CEO of SA Express Airways, Inati Ntshanga, said in a statement: “South African Express Airways rigorously adheres to international standards of safety to ensure air travel that is both safe and comfortable for our passengers. Our passengers can rest assured that all the necessary safety measures have been implemented.”

Koetle said in a statement that the Richards Bay airport is fully operational after the SAPS and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) investigated the alert.

The NIA declined to comment on the investigations.

Alleged hijacker in court
Meanwhile, plane hijack accused Tinashe Rioga appeared briefly in Cape Town’s Bellville Regional Court on Thursday, the South African Press Association reported.

A Zimbabwean student at the University of Cape Town, he was charged under the Aviation Act after allegedly brandishing a hypodermic syringe on a South African Airways flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg in June this year. He was overpowered by passengers and crew.

On Thursday, magistrate Hannes Lombard granted what he said would be a final postponement of the matter to August 24, for Rioga’s attorney, Josua Greeff, to find out whether he would still be retained as Rioga’s legal representative.

Greeff said he also needed the postponement for practical purposes, adding that Rioga’s elder brother, who resides in Zimbabwe, was granted a visa to visit South Africa only on Wednesday.

Greeff gave the court an undertaking to inform the Legal Aid Board timeously should he not get financial security to represent Rioga.

Rioga, who has been denied bail, remains in custody at Goodwood prison.

A transport-related memorandum of understanding signed between South Africa and Ethiopia on Friday was hailed as a precursor to an increasingly concerted effort by South Africa to ensure a further opening of the skies over the continent.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, South Africa’s Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, reiterated South Africa’s call for a more rapid liberalisation of the continent’s air-transport regime, in line with the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1999, which committed states to an ‘open skies’ policy.

Currently, bilateral agreements are required to access destinations in most African countries. And while many countries, including South Africa, have paid lip service to the Yamoussoukro agreement, they still continue to stoutly defend their routes.

Radebe and his Ethiopian counterpart, Transport and Communications Minister Juneydi Saddo, announced that aviation transport was a key feature of the cooperation agreement.

In this area, the deal covered the liberalisation of air-transport services, including double designation and improving relations between South African Airways and Ethiopia Airlines. Technical cooperation on safety, security and airports development was also envisaged.

“One of the critical things indicating the robust relationship between Ethiopia and South Africa is the issue of opening the skies between the two countries. A few weeks ago, our government adopted an airlift strategy, which is the first step in ensuring that we liberalise our skies for the furtherance of the objective of connecting Africa. Ethiopia and South Africa will be taking the lead in making sure that we open the skies between our two countries. I hope our two airlines and others will take advantage of this space,” Radebe stated.

Government would unveil its airlift strategy, which supports the further liberalisation of the skies over Africa, at an Africa conference on aviation safety taking place in Johannesburg on Monday.

South African Airways (SAA) lodged a complaint with the British Airports Authority (BAA) in London on Thursday about baggage delays and pilfering at Heathrow airport, the company said.
“SAA is deeply concerned about the current baggage problems being experienced out of London’s Heathrow airport following the recent security increases,” said spokeswoman Jacqui O’Sullivan.
According to SAA’s information, passengers were forced to place their valuable items in hold luggage due to a ban on hand luggage on all flights departing from the UK.
“Over that period, SAA noted a marked increase in the number of bags being delayed out of London and the number of bags arriving in a pilfered state.”
“We know we are not the only airline to have been affected but we feel the BAA must be responsible to protect delayed baggage in the wake of the hand luggage ban,” said Bert Meintjes, SAA aviation security head.

LOW-fare airline 1time has acquired another aircraft as part of expansion plans ahead of South African Airways’ (SAA’s) launch of a rival low-fare airline towards the end of the year.

MD Glen Orsmond said at the weekend the new SAA venture was not a threat to 1time, unless SAA sold tickets below cost.

“We’re confident we can beat their prices, as long as they don’t sell below cost,” said Orsmond.

1time, which has 190 flights a week, made a small loss last year mainly because of the fuel-price squeeze. It expected to show a R15m profit this year, Orsmond said.

Privately owned 1time announced on Friday that it had gained access to 1800 travel agencies in SA, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland after concluding an agreement with Galileo, a computerised reservation system used by travel agents across the world.

Orsmond said that, in the past, 1time sold tickets only over the internet as travel agents could not access its flights and the deal gave 1time access to 14000 Galileo terminals in the Southern African Customs Union and to 50000 terminals worldwide.

1time’s prices would not increase as the move “has allowed us to widen our network without any cost”, said Orsmond.

All Galileo-connected agents will now be able to book 1time fares directly through the Galileo desktop,” said 1time marketing director Rodney James.

He said Galileo provided an unbiased display of all carriers, giving customers content from almost every published schedule in the world, thereby providing clients with the greatest choice of flight options and schedules.

The system automatically searched for flights that matched the client’s criteria, including specific connection points and carriers.