The Eastern Cape Transport Department has apologised after an SA Express flight returned to Johannesburg after arriving at a closed Mthatha Airport.
This happened last Friday when the flight reportedly arrived 10-minutes after the 6 pm closing time.
Department spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said they would have follow-up talks with SA Express early next month to resolve “any challenges that affect services at Mthatha Airport”.
“The Eastern Cape Department of Transport wishes to extend its sincerest of apologies once more, to all those who were inconvenienced in that case,” he said.
Binqose said the airport's operating times are between 6 am and 6 pm in line with its license conditions.
He said the airlines are aware of this and had agreed to keep to those times, but he said on a few occasions Mthatha Airport management and staff were forced to “contravene the terms of the operating license to accommodate late flights”.
“SA Express is providing a valued service at the airport and its importance can never be downplayed. But there is a pressing need to tighten the issue of time management for a smoother running of the airport,” Binqose said.
(Pic: Archive)
