Still no flights in sight for FlyAfrica

FlyAfrica Namibia passengers are still in the dark after the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) clipped the airline’s wings at the beginning of this month, and there is still no certainty when flights will resume. However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, with the low-cost airline saying that flights may resume by next week, if all goes well. In the meantime FlyAfrica Namibia has cancelled all flights until next week Friday. However, FlyAfrica Namibia Chief Executive Officer, Clifford Strydom, said he remains positive that as soon as the problems with FlyAfrica in Zimbabwe have been addressed, the airline can resume flights in Namibia. FlyAfrica Zimbabwe has been waiting for a court ruling regarding the fraudulent and illegal actions taken by its partner in that country, which resulted in the surrendering of its Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC), and consequently being grounded. Strydom said FlyAfrica had to cancel its flights in Namibia when FlyAfrica Zimbabwe surrendered its AOC, and once it reinstated in Zimbabwe, Namibian operations can resume. The reason for this is because the Namibian operation is leasing an aircraft from Zimbabwe. Strydom said it was unfair that FlyAfrica Namibia is being roped into the problems in Zimbabwe, as they have nothing to do with each other. He said it was uncertain when flights will be able to resume in Namibia, but hopefully it will be by next week, if all goes well. However, the DCA recently announced that it had grounded FlyAfrica Namibia and launched investigations into the safety of the airline, after concerns were raised. Strydom, however, told Namibian Sun that this has been addressed with the DCA and that they seemed satisfied. Last week FlyAfrica Zimbabwe announced on its Facebook page that the Zimbabwe High Court on November 17 ruled that its local partner Chakanyuka Karase had acted illegally and with malicious intent to damage the airline, by seeking to ground it. It said that it had restarted the airline and is working with the regulators to resume flights on November 24. “We will update everyone as soon as we have more information,” the Facebook post read. However, according to reports, the court had only granted an injunction against the local partner not to interfere in their business, until the main case was heard. The court also told the airline to get their house in order, after a report from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) over various regulation violations. By yesterday, no flights had resumed. ELLANIE SMIT