After a string of countries and airlines have banned South Africans late last week due to the emergence of a new strain of COVID-19, South African Airways cancelled their passenger flight from Johannesburg to Mauritius on 28 November and used the flight as a repatriation service instead.
Mauritius has banned commercial flights from SA, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini effective until December 31, reports Times Live.
‘SAA advises all customers, the scheduled flight SA190 from Johannesburg to Mauritius on Sunday, 28th November 2021 is now cancelled. This flight will now operate to Mauritius as a ferry flight,’ the SAA said.
‘Apart from the service to Mauritius, SAA’s local and regional schedule remains unaffected. Please call on 011 978 1111, selecting option (1), alternatively send an email to [email protected] or reach us on Twitter at flysaa_care for assistance,’ they added.
Qatar Airways is the latest airline to announce that it will not be able to welcome travellers from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique with immediate effect. ‘We will continue to review the situation on a daily basis as new information becomes available from the WHO,’ the airline said. ‘Passengers affected by changes to flights from Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe should contact their respective Travel Agent. Alternatively if booked directly with #QatarAirways, please visit qatarairways.com/help.‘
The list of countries banning southern African nations is growing, and currently include Israel, Japan, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom.
South Africa has requested an urgent sitting with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to discuss the new variant. Amidst South Africa landing back on several red lists, the question about tighter lockdown restrictions has also surfaced, to which Health Minister Joe Phaahla responded that it was too early to say whether or not the government would impose tougher restrictions.
Picture: Getaway gallery
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