Weather causes flight chaos
Cindy Preller, Die Burger
Port Elizabeth - Hein Kruger, a businessman living in Cape Town and Johannesburg, said he would not hold his awful night in Port Elizabeth against the so-called Friendly City, though he was highly irritable about the poor service at the airport and of the airlines.
Several passengers booked on flights to Cape Town had to overnight in Port Elizabeth as a result of mist over Cape Town.
Seven flights which were supposed to land in Cape Town on Monday night, were rerouted to Port Elizabeth and two others had to return to Johannesburg, said Colin Naidoo, spokesperson for the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa).
He said the security of the passengers was Acsa's top priority and the airports had done everything in their power to handle the situation.
Kruger was on a British Airways flight, which left Johannesburg about 19:00 on Monday night. He said they couldn't land at Cape Town Airport because of the mist.
"Initially there was no accommodation for us when we landed in Port Elizabeth at 22:00. At first they told us that we would be returning to Johannesburg, but after an hour of waiting inside the aircraft, it was decided that we would overnight in Port Elizabeth," Kruger said.
He said he and other passengers had to wait another two hours in the arrivals hall before they were booked into a "third-rate hotel at the beachfront" shortly before 02:00. Prostitutes were allegedly coming and going at the hotel.
"One should expect a proper emergency plan to be in place and that we would have been received by ground staff. I didn't even have a toothbrush with me," he said.
Desiree Mason, a passenger on the same flight, said she had recently undergone a back operation, but had to carry her own three heavy suitcases.
"Fortunately we received a free one-way ticket from British Airways as compensation for the discomfort.
"My partner, who was on an SAA flight to Cape Town, had to overnight with family in Johannesburg after his flight had been turned back. He also had to pay extra for his baggage, said Mason, who was from the Cape.
Sarah Uys, a spokesperson for SAA, apologised on behalf of the airline and said the flight plan had returned to normal by lunchtime on Tuesday.
Stuart Cochraine, a spokesperson for British Airways, said there was not enough accommodation for all the passengers of all the airlines in Port Elizabeth, and that they had found the best under the circumstances.
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
