On Friday (January 5), SAA cancelled flights to New York following adverse weather conditions caused by the East Coast winter storm.

SAA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, said on Friday: “We are monitoring the situation quite closely and are in constant liaison with the relevant authorities in the US for updates. We expect to resume operations from Johannesburg today and our flight departing from New York will be delayed by approximately 11 hours.”

However, SAA’s New York flights remained grounded all weekend. Tlali told Tourism Update this morning (Monday January 8): “The flight cancellations emanate from operational challenges experienced by the JFK International Airport in the form of congestion. The airport is clearing the backlog after it closed on Thursday due to extreme and unfavourable weather conditions that prevailed. Whilst the weather conditions are within our operating limits, the airport has not been able to accommodate all airlines that have resumed operations since Friday.”

SAA was able to operate SA204 from New York to Johannesburg on Friday and SA203 from Johannesburg to New York on the same day. SAA has also confirmed  that flight SA203 from Johannesburg to New York will operate this evening (January 8).

“SAA is monitoring the situation on a continuous basis and will reinstate its services as soon as clearance has been issued by the airport authorities at JFK International Airport.”

SAA operations between Johannesburg and Washington DC remain unaffected.

 The airline has put the following measures in place:

• To allow passengers to rebook flights in accordance with conditions set out by SAA’s re-accommodation policy. This means, date change by affected customers will not attract penalties, something that it normally would.
• To allow passengers to re-route their travel. This too, will be at no cost to passengers who are able to travel to or from Washington DC. 
• Upgrade aircraft that operate on the Johannesburg-Washington DC route to accommodate additional passengers to or from the US. 

“South African Airways apologises for the inconvenience caused by the cancellations and delays experienced. We trust that our passengers will appreciate that their safety was our main concern,” concludes Tlali. 

SAA advises customers to check the status of their flights on its website, on its social media platforms or via the call centre.