Travel and Tourism

SA Express grounding continues – Month-long recovery plan released

After a weekend of flight cancellations across five specific routes and a scramble amongst sister airlines to pick up the flack, it appears it could be some time before SA Express gets off the ground again.

The airline was forced to increased its call centre operations to help deal with the high volume of queries related to cancellations following its suspension by the SA Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday, 24 May.

The audit coincided with the introduction of a stabilisation programme at the airline, which has undergone significant leadership changes over the last twelve months. The SA Express leadership team, as well as Minister Pravin Gordhan’s Intervention Team, are expected to share the stabilisation plans with the SACAA.

SAA has since released a month-long recovery schedule until the end of June for passengers affected by the SACAA grounding of SA express due to non-compliance and safety concerns.

SA Express says it is in the process of working with the SACAA to meet all the necessary approvals in order to lift the suspension.

“Through our collaborative efforts with partner airlines (SAA, SA Airlink and Mango Airlines), we are able to announce a schedule intended to ensure business continuity and provide travel certainty. We are confident that the capacity we have deployed will sustain network operated by SA Express until it is reinstated into service by the regulator,” says SAA Spokesperson, Tlali Tlali.

SAA confirmed there is, however, no recovery plan for the following routes. These flights have been cancelled for Saturday and Sunday:

  • Johannesburg – Sun City
  • Johannesburg – Mmabatho
  • Cape Town – Sun City
  • Cape Town – East London
  • Cape Town – Walvis Bay

Passengers have been advised to proceed to SA Express counters for information relating to the contingency plans made for these flights, or alternatively, call 0800 214 774 and +27 11 978 6699. Passengers are further encouraged to take note of the following:

  • SAA will rebook, reroute or refund passengers whose travel plans have changed due to the suspension of SA Express flights.
  • Passengers on SA coded tickets and SA codeshare will be accommodated on a priority basis.
  • SAA will, in accordance with its compensation policy, compensate all passengers where applicable

SA Express Relief Schedule 28th May – 24th June 2018:

NB: 1: Monday; 2: Tuesday; 3: Wednesday; 4: Thursday; 5: Friday; 6: Saturday; 7: Sunday 

Johannesburg (JNB) – Bloemfontein (BFN)

12345 – SA 8401 6:10 JNB BFN 7:05

12345 – SA 8402 7:25 BFN JNB 8:20

12345 – SA 8403 8:55 JNB BFN 9:50

12345 – SA 8404 10:10 BFN JNB 11:05

1234567 – SA 8405 9:15 JNB BFN 10:45

1234567 – SA 8406 10:00 BFN JNB 10:55

1234567 – SA 8407 16:15 JNB BFN 17:10

1234567 – SA 8408 17:30 BFN JNB 18:25

Johannesburg (JNB) – Kimberly (KIM)

12345 – SA 8421 6:30 JNB KIM 7:40

12345 – SA 8422 8:15 KIM JNB 9:25

1234 5 – SA 8423 9:50 JNB KIM 11:00

12345 – SA 8424 11:40 KIM JNB 12:50

12345 – SA 8425 13:30 JNB KIM 14:40

12345 – SA 8426 15:00 KIM JNB 16:10

1234567 – SA 8427 16:30 JNB KIM 17:40

1234567 – SA 8428 18:20 KIM JNB 19:30

Johannesburg (JNB) – Richards Bay (RCB)

12345 – SA 8441 8:00 JNB RCB 9:00

12345 – SA 8442 10:00 RCB JNB 11:00

12345 – SA 8443 11:30 JNB RCB 12:30

12345 – SA 8444 13:00 RCB JNB 14:00

12345 – SA 8447 15:00 JNB RCB 16:00

12345 – SA 8449 16:30 RCB JNB 17:30

Johannesburg (JNB) – Gaborone (GBE)

12345 – SA 8452 6:20 JNB GBE 7:15

12345 – SA 8453 7:40 GBE JNB 8:35

12345 – SA 8456 9:00 JNB GBE 9:55

12345 – SA 8457 10:20 GBE JNB 11:15

1234567 – SA 8458 14:40 JNB GBE 15:35

1234567 –  SA 8459 16:00 GBE JNB 16:55

Johannesburg (JNB) – Hoedspruit (HDS)

12345 – SA 8859 11:40 JNB HDS 12:40

12345 – SA 8860 13:20 HDS JNB 14:20

Cape Town (CPT) – Hoedspruit (HDS)

1234567 –  SA 8657 10:15 CPT HDS 12:45

1234567 – SA 8658 13:30 HDS CPT 16:10

Cape Town (CPT) – Walvis Bay (WVB)

1234567 – SA 8691 9:00 CPT WVB 11:15

1234567 – SA 8692 17:15 WVB CPT 19:30

Johannesburg (JNB) – Walvis Bay (WVB)

1234567 – SA 8141 11:45 WVB JNB 14:00

1234567 – SA 8142 14:30 JNB WVB 16:45

Johannesburg (JNB) – George (GRJ)

134567 – SA 2821 11:50 JNB GRJ 13:45

134567 SA 2826 14:20 GRJ JNB 16:00

Johannesburg (JNB) – East London (ELS)

234567 – SA 471 10:10 JNB ELS 11:35

234567 – SA 476 12:05 ELS JNB 13:30

1234567 – SA 475 15:30 JNB ELS 16:55

1234567 – SA 480 17:25 ELS JNB 18:50

Cape Town (CPT) – Bloemfontein (BLF)

12345 – SA 2069 14:00 BFN CPT 15:40

7 – SA 2069 14:45 BFN CPT 16:25

12345 – SA 2068 11:45 CPT BFN 13:15

7 – SA 2068 12:30 CPT BFN 14:00

Johannesburg (JNB) – Lubumbashi (FBM)*awaiting regulatory approval

1234567 – SA 3094 tbc JNB FBM tbc

1234567 – SA 3095 tbc FBM JNB tbc

Source – Traveller24

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