Mayhem broke out in the industry this weekend due to inconsistent interpretation of the new government travel regulations.
When feedback got out that international travellers were being denied boarding, and media reports on the cancellation of Emirates’ Durban flights surfaced – indicating that other airlines would soon follow suit – industry started to panic.
Government responded to the urgent escalations made by industry bodies over the weekend with the issuance of a number of statements that defused the situation.
CEO of the Tourism Business Council South Africa, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, told Tourism Update that there had been two major issues concerning the operationalisation of the new travel regulations that were introduced on October 1.
Crew testing
Firstly, there was inconsistent interpretation of the regulations, which require international travellers to present a negative PCR test to enter South Africa. This was interpreted by certain officials to also apply to airline cabin crew.
Tshivhengwa said it was “completely impractical” to expect crew to comply with the same requirements as travellers and added that if this requirement was enforced, airlines would have cancelled their flights to South Africa en masse. He explained that stringent international protocols to keep cabin crew safe were already in place, including regular testing, isolation in flight bubbles, etc.
Tourism Update understands that this issue only affected Emirates’ flights to Durban. While the airline’s spokesperson was unable to provide comment on the matter, Tourism Update has had sight of an Emirates trade statement issued on Saturday that advised agents of the cancellation of flight EK775 between Dubai and Durban until further notice. The statement advised agents to rebook disrupted passengers on EK764 which was still operating out of Johannesburg.
Chair of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa, Carla da Silva, confirmed that only Emirates had been affected. “No other airlines cancelled their flights, as we escalated the matter and it was attended to by government who reacted and amended the PCR requirement,” she said.
An extract from an amended COVID-19 NOTAM from the South African Civil Aviation Authority stated the following:
“For international and domestic flights, passengers and crew must comply with specific requirements of directions with regards to PCR test, quarantine requirements and wearing of masks. Regulations currently being reviewed and which will be communicated in due course are:
- Crew with valid negative PCR test will be allowed access to South Africa.
- Crew without negative PCR test will be quarantined at their contracted hotel until they leave South Africa.
Pre-lockdown suspension of visa-free status not lifted
Tshivhengwa said the second issue related to a number of people being turned away from international flights to South Africa due to confusion over visa requirements. He explained that earlier this year, prior to the implementation of the complete travel ban, government had introduced visas to limit the number of people entering South Africa from high-risk countries.
With the lifting of the international travel ban on October 1, certain officials were still insisting that passport holders from traditionally visa-free destinations (such as Germany) were prohibited from entering South Africa without a visa. This was also inconsistently applied at different entry points, he said.
Following further escalation by industry bodies, the Minister of Home Affairs issued a statement on Sunday saying that a decision had been made to reinstate the visa exemption status of the citizens of the countries that were revoked at the commencement of the COVID-19 lockdown. This reinstatement of visa-free status was extended to passport holders from South Korea, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, UK, France, Portugal and Iran.
“The visa-free status of citizens of these countries was suspended at the start of lockdown. This means that airlines may board passport holders of these countries without a visa in line with their exemption status before lockdown,” advised the DHA.
It added that transit travellers through South Africa by air would also be allowed to connect to their destinations, subject to their complying with applicable health protocols, and that airline crew would be allowed entry, subject to adherence to the industry health guidelines and international protocols.
“This situation has created a PR nightmare for South Africa. We simply do not have the luxury of being able to afford government overlooking the practical application of its travel regulations and not doing things right the first time. We, as an industry, are available to be consulted and we encourage government to engage with us ahead of the implementation of regulations,” said Tshivhengwa.
