Flyafrica.com’s inaugural flight was cancelled Wednesday following a decision by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) to revoke the airline’s South African pilots’ validation to fly.
Passengers have been booked onto a British Airways flight, which will depart at 13h00.
FlyAfrica CEO, Adrian Hamilton-Manns, says it was all systems go yesterday afternoon, but at 20h00 last night the airline received word from the CAAZ that the SA pilots' validation to fly had been revoked. “We tried to put a charter service into place but this would take at least a day to get landing rights,” he said.
“The CAAZ requirements are currently unclear. We’re working on resolving this issue as soon as possible so that our Friday flights will not be affected.
“In the meantime, our primary concern is our passengers and re-accommodating them on BA. Passengers will also be given a credit to fly free on another flight in the future,” Adrian said.
“We were excited about the launch of our scheduled services and now we feel deflated,” he said.