In South Africa and stressing about flights out of the country? Here are some deets on some airlines:
Emirates
Emirates suspended flights to and from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia on November 27.
"Until further notice, Emirates is temporarily suspending passenger operations to and from South Africa (Johannesburg, Durban Cape Town), Zimbabwe (Harare) and Zambia (Lusaka)," it said in a statement.
Customers can hold on to their Emirates flight ticket and reschedule their trip when flights resume.
Update: Emirates announced that it will operate passenger flights four times a week into Johannesburg from December 1 to 31.2021. The airline will not transport outbound passengers from Johannesburg due to current travel restrictions. Emirates has temporarily suspended passenger operations to and from Durban and Cape Town.
Qatar Airways
Passengers booked on Qatar Airways flights from seven destinations, including Luanda, Angola; Maputo, Mozambique; Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; and Harare in Zimbabwe, will not be accepted for travel until further notice.
"Due to the recent emergence of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant, and with immediate effect, Qatar Airways will no longer be accepting passengers travelling from five Southern African countries in our global network. However, we will continue to accept passengers for travel into these countries in-line with current restrictions.
"These restrictions will remain in place until we receive further guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO). We will continue to review the situation on a daily basis as new information becomes available. Please follow our social media channels for the latest updates," it revealed in a statement.
Air France
Air France cancelled its flights from Johannesburg to Paris on November 26 and Cape Town to Paris on November 27.
"Flights to and from South Africa are cancelled on Saturday, November 27 and Sunday, November 28. Air France is waiting for the conditions applicable from 29 November 2021. Booked customers will be informed individually as soon as possible," it said in a statement.
Customers who wish to modify or postpone their trip can contact the airports or customer relations centres for assistance.
"As part of the "Air France Protect" measures, all Air France tickets are fully modifiable and refundable up to the day of departure for travel up to 30 June 2022," the statement added.
British Airways
Clayson Monyela of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) tweeted that as per info by the UK in South Africa (@ukinsouthafrica) @British_Airways will resume direct flights to South Africa from Tuesday, with the first flight to London on Wednesday. "It'll be 1 daily flight to Cape Town & ORTIA. Virgin flies 3 times a week into ORTIA. They haven't stopped theirs," he tweeted.
British Airways announced flight cancellations from midday on Friday, November 26.
KLM
KLM is currently operating flights from South Africa. However, passengers need to meet specific criteria. They are accepting all EU passport holders who are residents in Europe.
"Passengers must be in possession of a flight to the final destination in Europe," it said.
They also accept all foreigners with a valid residency document (resident card/visa, etc.) that reside in Europe and EU nationals transiting AMS to their final home country not located within Europe.
They said UK and US nationals travelling to the US/UK were not permitted to travel via Amsterdam.
"UK nationals are no longer EU nationals and can only travel on KLM if they reside in Europe. South African nationals using a second EU passport (not residing in Europe) may not travel via Amsterdam on KLM.
KLM flights are still operating into South Africa under the requirements as set by the South African government," it added.
KLM said all passengers travelling on KLM from South Africa require a negative PCR test conducted up to 24 hours before boarding or a negative PCR test taken up to 48 hours before boarding and a negative antigen test result taken up to 24 hours before boarding. All passengers must also complete a quarantine declaration form at https://quarantinedeclaration.government.nl/en