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Global airline giant Emirates will resume its flights to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport from Thursday (October 8), Fouad Caunhye, the airline’s regional manager for Southern Africa confirmed to Moneyweb on Tuesday.
This comes after the Dubai-based Emirates was forced to cancel its original resumption flight to the city on Sunday due to South Africa’s confusing Covid-19 travel regulations.
The rules require international airline crew, like normal passengers, to have a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for the virus within 72-hours before flying to the country, in addition to being restricted to possible quarantines.
The situation wasn’t made any easier by relevant government departments only announcing the regulations just before – and a few days after – the October 1 reopening of South Africa to mainstream international travel.
Confusion around the initial regulations saw Emirates warn that it may have to suspend its flights to Joburg and Cape Town, which raised the alarm that other airlines could follow suit.
Caunhye said in a brief interview with Moneyweb that the issue is now resolved, without going into detail.
He also noted that the airline’s other flights to the country will now continue as planned.
Carla da Silva, chair of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (Barsa) also confirmed that the issue has now been resolved.
