SA Express was grounded on Thursday amid serious safety concerns. The South African Civil Aviation Authority suspended the airline’s operating permits‚ saying: “This effectively means that ... SA Express can no longer continue to operate as an airline.”
Nine of SA Express’s 21 aircraft also had their certificates of airworthiness withdrawn.
Passengers scheduled to depart between 06h00 and 09h00 on Friday were advised to proceed to SA Express counters for information about the contingency plans made for those flights‚ or alternatively call 0800 214 774 and +27 11 978 6699. Passengers were also told that:
• SAA would rebook‚ reroute or refund passengers whose travel plans had changed due to the suspension of SA Express flights.
• Passengers on SA coded tickets and SA code share would be accommodated on a priority basis.
• SAA would‚ in accordance with its compensation policy‚ compensate all passengers where applicable.
“We sincerely apologise to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the suspension of SA Express services‚” said Tlali.
Rescue plan for stranded SA Express passengers
Three partner airlines have come to the rescue of passengers who have been left stranded by the grounding of SA Express.
South African Airways (SAA) said on Friday that it had collaborated with Mango Airlines and SA Airlink to ensure there was enough capacity to mitigate the impact on travellers.
“Our priority remains customer assistance in the best way possible in order to minimise the inconvenience caused by the suspension of SA Express services‚” said SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
“We have a recovery plan which was activated soon after the suspension of SA Express operations.”
SA Express was grounded on Thursday amid serious safety concerns. The South African Civil Aviation Authority suspended the airline’s operating permits‚ saying: “This effectively means that ... SA Express can no longer continue to operate as an airline.”
Nine of SA Express’s 21 aircraft also had their certificates of airworthiness withdrawn.
Passengers scheduled to depart between 06h00 and 09h00 on Friday were advised to proceed to SA Express counters for information about the contingency plans made for those flights‚ or alternatively call 0800 214 774 and +27 11 978 6699. Passengers were also told that:
• SAA would rebook‚ reroute or refund passengers whose travel plans had changed due to the suspension of SA Express flights.
• Passengers on SA coded tickets and SA code share would be accommodated on a priority basis.
• SAA would‚ in accordance with its compensation policy‚ compensate all passengers where applicable.
“We sincerely apologise to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the suspension of SA Express services‚” said Tlali.