24 May 2018

South Africa: SA Express grounded!

update (30 May 2018): South African Airways (SAA) has announced an extended schedule as part of the interventions to sustain SA Express network. This is through replacement capacity for a year with partner airlines to support SA Express passengers.

update (28 May 2018): South African Airways has released a month-long recovery schedule until the end of June 2018 for passengers affected by the grounding of SA Express.

update (25 May 2018): Please follow this link to view the new flight schedule for this weekend.

update (25 May 2018): The following routes have been cancelled for this week & are not operational:
Johannesburg <> Sun City
Johannesburg <> Mahikeng
Cape Town <> Sun City
Cape Town <> East London
Durban <> East London
Cape Town to Walvis Bay is cancelled for today (25 May 2018). Further notice will be provided as and when information becomes available
Johannesburg <> George will be operated by Mango [src.]


update (25 May 2018): SA Express will have an updated re-accommodation schedule available after 11:00. [src.]
Passengers on SA coded tickets and SA code share will be accommodated with international and regional connecting passengers on first priority. [src.]
Should delays arise all passengers will, in accordance to international standards, be accommodated for up to 48hrs while we make every effort to get you on the next flight. [src.]

SA Express will, in accordance with their compensation policy, compensate all passengers for meals and refreshments (excl. alcohol), accommodation and transport costs applicable. [src.]

update (25 May 2018): South African Airways (SAA), Airlink and Mango will have special counters for all SA Express (SAX) passengers. SAA will operate bookings to help re-accommodate passengers booked on flights with SAX. [src.] Passengers in need of assistance can also contact 0800 214 774 and international passengers +27 11 978 6699 from 06:00 to 23:00. [src.]

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), the national aviation authority of South Africa, has grounded state-owned South African airline SA Express with immediate effect. The authority suspended the airline's Air Operator's Certificate (AOC)*, the Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) approvals as well as the Certificates of Airworthiness (CoA) of nine of the airline's 21 aircraft. This effectively means that as of today (24 May 2018), SA Express can no longer continue to operate as an airline. The decision to revoke the airline's permits comes after the SACAA conducted an audit at the airline and its maintenance  organisation in the past several days, which uncovered severe cases of non-compliance that pose serious safety risks. We'll keep you posted!

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