Cape Town International Airport has confirmed a plane operated by Angolan airline TAAG landed at the airport on Friday, 7 September without a Foreign Operator’s Permit (FOP).
Only the crew were on board the flight, however passengers were planning to depart that same evening. The plane will remain grounded until the matter is resolved.
‘TAAG Angola Airlines has an FOP which lists all the aircraft they use in the undertaking of their scheduled flights,’ said Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula according to IOL. ‘However, due to the grounding of some of their fleet (for) maintenance, they chartered an aircraft not listed in their FOP to collect workers of the oil company, Chevron.’
Mbalula added that compliance with Civil Aviation Regulations is important, and said that a violation of the country’s civil aviation laws is a matter they “take extremely seriously”.
The Angolan government has since apologised for the contravention.
Picture: Getaway gallery
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