SAA in the air to repatriate foreign nationals 

South African Airways (SAA) will fly its first passenger flight on Friday to repatriate German foreign nationals who were stuck in South Africa after government’s lockdown started.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national lockdown on March 27, in order to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic as numbers of positive cases kept rising, one of the consequences was closing all borders and grounding all passenger flights.

The result was that thousands of foreign tourists, students and workers were left with no way to leave the country, until now.

“Following the engagements with various embassies and in consultation with the relevant government departments, SAA has agreed to provide repatriation charter flights to various international destinations,” SAA’s business rescue practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana said in a statement. 

The BRPs said they are still negotiating with other governments for the repatriation of their citizens.

The service has been approved by the government and will be done in line with the health and safety provisions in the disaster management regulations for the lockdown, which means not everyone will qualify to leave. 

• These flights are commercial in nature, to deal with the thousands of passengers who could not be accommodated as a consequence of the immediate lockdown.
• These flights are not for the transportation of individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 and are not medical evacuation flights.  
• Individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 will not be allowed on any of these flights.
• All passengers would be subject to the screening protocols prior to departure, as required by South African authorities and SAA’s policies.
• Any passengers who present flu-like symptoms will not be allowed on any of these flights.

“In these difficult times, SAA is committed to collaborating with all its partners and stakeholders in the fight against Covid-19. The airline will ensure the necessary transfer of passengers and essential cargo takes place in a safe and compliant manner for all during these flights,” noted the BRPs.