Stranded |
An aviation wrangle has exploded between South Africa and
Zimbabwe with both countries blocking flights from taking off due to operators
permits.
Authorities in South Africa say an Air Zimbabwe flight was
not allowed to take off from Johannesburg because it was not in compliance with
civil aviation rules.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority says an
inspection was conducted Friday evening on the Boeing 767-200 aircraft and it
was found not to be in compliance with South African and international
guidelines.
The aviation authority says an aircraft must have a
“foreign operator’s permit” and other documents in order to fly in and out of
South Africa.
The authority says it recently took similar action against
other operators, including Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and Saudi Airlines.
South African Airways says Zimbabwe cited similar rules in
placing restrictions on its operations Saturday, which affected the
government-owned airline’s flights between the neighboring countries.
South African Airways says Zimbabwe has placed restrictions
on its operations, affecting its flights between the neighboring countries.
The South African government-owned airline says its flight
from Zimbabwe’s capital to Johannesburg was unable to take off as scheduled
Saturday morning. Another flight from Johannesburg to Harare has been canceled.
South African Airways says Zimbabwean authorities are
demanding a “foreign operators permit” to allow the airline to operate in
Zimbabwe. It says it has been flying to and from Zimbabwe for more than 20
years and that the permit was never required until Saturday morning.
The restrictions come as South Africa’s government weighs
whether to grant diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwe’s first lady, who is accused
of assaulting a young model at a luxury hotel in Johannesburg.
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