Shock for SA tourists

2008-12-15 22:57

Erika Gibson

Pretoria - Scores of South Africans and foreign tourists who had planned a holiday on Zanzibar's beaches - or a trip to Kilimanjaro - have had their holiday plans shattered after all Air Tanzania's aircraft were grounded.

Tour operators on Monday feverishly tried to find alternative flights for honeymoon couples and other tourists, but due to the holiday peak season all flights were fully booked.

During the past week the Tanzanian Civic Aviation Authority (TCAA) cancelled the airline's operating licence without further ado after an inspection revealed more than 500 operational gaps.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) and the TCAA found serious gaps - among other things poor inspection of aircraft and a shortage of pilots and aircraft technicians.

Flights could resume

In terms of the TCAA's declaration, flights were cancelled as a precautionary "but necessary measure to prevent the airline from compromising flight safety".

The TCAA said if the airline met all the requirements, flights could be resumed in two weeks.

Air Tanzania's telephones in Johannesburg remained unanswered and its website was "under construction".

Liesl de Willers of Tribe Safari, who takes between 30 and 50 tourists to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar every month, said the situation was "chaotic".

Some people were stranded in Tanzania without return flights while she had to try and book flights on other airlines for the stranded people in South Africa.

Only 1Time flies directly to Zanzibar from South Africa.

South African Airways flies to Dar es Salaam. Only Air Tanzania and a few charter planes fly between Dar es Salaam and Arusha, the closest airport to Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater.

Robin Christie, CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (Asata), said it was impossible to say how many people were stranded.

Graham Paterson, 1Time's director of airports and Africa, said the airline had already helped several tourists with flights.

- Beeld