As various airlines across the globe are trying to recover from the negative impact posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, discovering new strategies to survive and matching capacity with demand, Qantas the flag carrier of Australia has revealed that it will not resume scheduled services to South Africa until late December.
A couple of months ago, Qantas stated in a statement that due to market uncertainty and ongoing government restrictions it has temporarily stopped selling some international routes until the end of October 2021 but lately it seems like passengers will have to wait a little longer for them to resume travel to and from Africa using the airline.
In a Southern and East African Tourism Update, Regional Manager Africa for Qantas Airways, Michi Messner said though some arlines across the globe are continuing to return flights to South Africa after a long period of downturn amid the complications of the pandemic, the major airline has been forced to move back its planned resumption of international passenger operations from the end of October to the end of December.
Over the past years, Qantas has been excellently performing in South Africa and now it has been looking at the prospects of a second route to South Africa, with a service between Perth and Johannesburg a potential option.
“There were indications that Qantas would be returning to the African nation this October. However, as the month approaches, passengers will have to wait until the end of the year at the earliest. Our Johannesburg-Sydney flight has been pushed out from October to December, as the borders remain closed.”
“We continue to monitor the system and to update as necessary. It is still unclear when borders will fully reopen,” said Messner.
Qantas operations have not only been affected in South Africa but the implimentation of stiff travel rules by the Australian government saw the airline struggling to mantain its routes to different destinations.
Following these ongoing restrictions, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has since called for an end of lockdowns in the country and has requested leniency on the vaccination goals regarding the reopening of travel.
By Joyce Mukucha
