EL passengers left stranded after airline cancels Johannesburg flight at last minute

Passengers were left stranded at East London Airport as FlySaFair cancelled its evening flight  to Johannesburg on Monday.

Among those left high and dry was East London advocate Nolitha Ntebe. She told DispatchLIVE that children and pregnant women from across the province were left “on our own, without any explanation”.

She said: “There are children here who are traumatised, there are pregnant women and a minister. After waiting another hour with no apologies, we were told that the next flight will be departing at 7am — no compassion, no respect, total disregard, and most importantly, the risky situation some now faced.”

Some university students were writing supplementary exams on Tuesday, she said.

“A FlySafair regional manager told us they could not help us with any food and accommodation.”

In a statement, the company said flight FA241 from East London to Johannesburg, due to depart at 7.25pm, was cancelled after the crew received indication of  a technical error. “Due to limited technical capacity in East London the quickest recovery option is for us to send a backup aircraft to complete the flight.

“Unfortunately in order to get the aircraft to East London Airport, and still depart tonight would require that the East London Airport remain open for air traffic longer than scheduled. East London Airport have not been able to accommodate this, so our only option is to secure the earliest possible departure of 7am tomorrow morning. “

The airline offered free changes and refunds for those seeking to cancel their journey. “We thank our passengers for their understanding in our need to put safety first and the limited options available to us. Those passengers who opted for journey cover insurance will be able to make claims to cover the cost of transportation and accommodation from our insurance partners at Chubb Insurance.”

Passengers took to social media to voice their anger. Lita Memani wrote: “Sies on you for your pathetic handling of tonight's flight cancellations. Not offering people accommodation yet you are the ones responsible for bringing a flight with technical problems. People were left stranded, sies, I'm disgusted!”