Saturday 19 August 2017

SAA FLIGHTS GROUNDED IN HARARE

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.

The statement by the airline does not mention the allegations

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