Major airlines around the world halt flights to and from South Africa as concern about Omicron, a new coronavirus strain, grows. Travellers were left stranded at Cape Town International Airport. Tracey Adams/African News Agency (ANA)
MAJOR AIRLINES rushed to cancel South African flights over the weekend as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus variant to be “of concern” and named it Omicron.
The UK, several European nations, Canada, the United States, Singapore and Israel, have restricted travel to and from South Africa. The move has left travellers, local and foreign, stranded at South Africa’s main airports.
President Cyril Ramaphosa held an emergency meeting with the National Cornavirus Command Council yesterday before he is expected to address the nation on whether the country would spend the second consecutive festive season in a stringent lockdown due to the emergence of Omicron.
On Friday, the WHO said the number of cases of the new variant, initially named B.1.1.529, appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa’s provinces. “This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning.”
The organisation said “the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November” and it would take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant.
Meanwhile, chaos ensued at Cape Town International as frustrated passengers scrambled for answers as flight information boards listed multiple cancelled flights.
At the airport, James Vos, the City’s economic growth and tourism chief, joined travellers from cancelled international flights due to the travel bans. “Seeing the impact on individuals such as the stranded passengers, as well as on people working in the hospitality industry has been heartbreaking,” he said. “I will remain in contact with UK government officials, tourism operators, our Air Access team, and others in the travel industry for regular updates. Until we know more about this variant, let us all continue to play our part in keeping ourselves and each other safe and ensure that tourism in Cape Town takes flight again.”
Traveller Esther Jentsch from Germany was among the desperate passengers. “I was suppose to fly with Qatar Airways via Doha but my flight just has been cancelled. No one is helping us.”
Dutch health authorities said yesterday they had detected 61 Covid-19 cases among people who flew from South Africa on Friday and were now conducting further testing to see whether any are infected with the recently discovered Omicron variant.
The cases were discovered among around 600 passengers who arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on two flights on Friday before the Dutch government halted air traffic from southern Africa due to concerns over the variant. The passengers from the flights were kept separated from other travellers and those who tested positive are being kept in isolation at a hotel near the airport.
Dutch carrier KLM said the Dutch government flagged southern African countries as a very high risk. The entry ban does not apply for the repatriation of people carrying Dutch passports, EU citizens, Schengen residents, medical emergency staff, ships’ crew, airline staff and people travelling under exceptional circumstances, such as family emergencies. The airline has advised passengers wishing to rebook their flights to do so.
Air France has taken note of the French authorities’ decision to suspend arrivals from southern African countries for a period of 48 hours as a result, Air France cancelled its flights from Johannesburg to Paris on Friday and yesterday’s Cape Town to Paris flight.
Turkish Airlines announced on Saturday it was suspending all flights to South Africa too.
Expats with grand plans of a return to SA in time for Christmas were left disappointed and scrambling to make alternate plans.
Louis Oelofse, who is due to fly home for good from Turkey on Thursday, after a nearly five-year stint as a TV journalist at state-broadcaster TRT World, said: “My biggest concern is that my work permit expires the day after I’m supposed to be out of the country and if I can’t leave, I will effectively be in Turkey illegally.”
Oelofse added: “I’m frustrated by the speed at which the international community especially the UK shut South Africa out, and how long they will take when it’s time to reopen borders or take the country off the red list. I’m absolutely furious with anti-vaxxers, who despite overwhelming evidence that vaccines work on many many levels to combat this pandemic, still rather believe nonsense on their echo chambers on Facebook or WhatsApp. I’m fully vaccinated and plan to get the booster as soon as I’m due. I’ve lost many friends and colleagues to this virus so don’t tell me it’s not real.”
Keamogetswe Monaisa, Motheo Khoripe and their two-year-old son Lerumo, are also meant to return home from Istanbul on Thursday. “Seeing how fast the world shut its borders to travellers from southern Africa is very scary,” said Monaisa. Their Plan B now involves rebooking flights on another airline. “It made us realise a lot can change in just an hour. So although we still hope we'll be able to travel home in a few days, we really won't know until that plane takes off,” she added.
The UK was the first to add six southern African nations to its Covid travel red list. Flights from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa were suspended on Friday. It’s thrown a spanner in the works for Fabian Coghlan from London, who already booked his flights to visit his family in Lotus River for Christmas.
“I was planning to come home from December 9 to January 12. But now that is more and more unlikely,” he told the Weekend Argus. Coghlan’s confirmed flights on British Airways cost him £955 pounds (R20 700).
The uncertainty over what happens next is also top of mind for Bianca Lutz-Köküner, who was to fly back to the UK on December 8. Her husband Volkan left Cape Town earlier. He landed at London Heathrow just 24 hours before the UK shut its borders to travellers from South Africa. “I haven’t cancelled my flight. I am waiting to see what the government on both sides (SA and UK) have to say this weekend,” said Lutz-Köküner.
Emergency meetings and “war room” discussions are under way with tourism stakeholders in South Africa. The mission is to save the industry and the jobs related to it.
Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor said: “While we respect the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, this pandemic requires collaboration and sharing of expertise. Our immediate concern is the damage that these restrictions are causing to families, the travel and tourism industries and business.”
And with the peak summer holiday period already here, SA National Parks (SANParks) said it was bracing for mass booking amendments.
“Booked clients from the countries that have introduced travel bans will not be charged fees or penalties for amendments and postponements for a 12-month period from the date of 26 November until such time as the travel bans are lifted," said Hapiloe Sello, managing executive of tourism development and marketing.
The Flight Centre Travel Group, said the travel industry has already been “heavily impacted by the UK’s decision to put South Africa back on the red list”.
“It is a massive blow for South African companies who have headquarters in the UK. For those who have an exemption to travel, quarantines at government-approved hotels will be mandatory,” said Oz Desai from Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller Group.
“The reality is that the cost and inconvenience of quarantines at government-approved hotels in the UK is a major deterrent for South African business travellers.”
This is a massive blow to the tourism sector. The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) chairperson Rosemary Anderson also encouraged South Africans to get vaccinated to save the tourism industry.
“We depend on tourism for jobs and livelihoods. We simply cannot have a repeat of December 2020 where restaurants and hospitality businesses bore the brunt of Covid regulations making travel and restaurant patronage unappealing and difficult.”