Flights to South Africa could be suspended?

[chopper2004]

What’s the likelihood flights to South Africa will be banned from here as they already be banned from there. Only reason why I am asking is my wife has persuaded me as with her folks to head there in the new year as they have a second home there and like to spend few months away during the Xmas winter period. The in-laws are flying out there next weekend to Jo Burg.

i have Never been to South Africa and tbh it’s never been on my to-visit-list even though I’ve dealt with South African helicopter companies in my career.

[DaveReidUK]

As a general rule, throughout the pandemic (albeit with exceptions), it has been passengers who have been unable to travel rather than flights being banned (many routes continued, carrying only cargo in one or both directions).

Whether passengers can travel between "here" and SA (in either direction) will depend on the policies of the two countries at the time, and right now it's anybody's guess what the next few weeks will bring.

[krismiler]

On certain routes we only carry passengers one way at the moment while waiting for things to open up. A skeleton network is being maintained by a lot of airlines, with government subsidies and cargo revenue paying the bills. A complete lockdown is unlikely to happen as we have the mechanisms for dealing with a pandemic already in place but heavy restrictions could be imposed again if the numbers start to surge.

I don't intend to travel until normality has been with us for a few months, scrambling to get home early to beat quarantine as happened to tourists visiting SA recently doesn't appeal.

[PAXboy]

JNB is my most regular long haul route (just coming up on 56 years since my first flight there) and we have booked for the end of next March for a family reunion.
Scientists currently saying it will take 2 or 3 weeks to analyse Omicron and can then say what the risks are. Currently South African medics who are working with those infected by Omicron are saying that symptoms are not too bad. The fact that, overall, the UK has far more daily infections of Covid is not the point! There is no telling what the UK govt will do if informed that the variant IS less of a problem than first thought.

At this stage, my family and I (four of us due to travel South in late March) think that we shall have an answer in good time. For those likely to travel sooner, if you have the time to be able to sit it out? There is nowhere nicer to do so! If you cannot afford the time and the quarantine - then skip it this year.

When the pandemic first broke I said that, if I could, I would go to Cape Town and rent a small holiday cottage from friends and stay for the duration. I might still there but it would have been fine!

[crewmeal]

While carriers are curtailing flights into SA, KLM are continuing to operate but restricting who travels. Amongst the list are EU citizens so that rules out British citizens I guess.

KLM courtesy of Simple flying (https://simpleflying.com/klm-will-maintain-south-africa-flights-after-travel-ban-enacted/)

[TCU]

BA are definitely back. BA43 and 55 trundled down to to CPT and JNB respectively last night.

PAXboy is correct. If you have time and a spirit of adventure on your side, come down to SA and spend 90 warm days in the Southern African sun (okay, it will rain a little as well). Need another reason? R21 to the £ and brilliant local offers in the tourist sector.

If it gets worse and things do get clamped down (like last year), the SA Govt have been quite good at extending visas.

What is a bit sad is greedy BA. Fly LHR-CPT-LHR on a given mid December day, returning early Jan and you are looking at around £1,400 in WT. Reverse the trip, so CPT-LHR-CPT on the identical reciprocal WT flights and the fare is............£550

Glad I start my journeys @ CPT these days

[PAXboy]

From The Independent, Simon Calder:
I suggest you consider a stop in Egypt on your way back. From Johannesburg, an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Cairo via Addis Ababa costs about £300. For admission to Egypt, the Foreign Office says NHS proof of vaccination is acceptable in lieu of a test. It adds: “Passengers arriving from countries where Covid-19 variants of concern have been identified may be required to undertake a rapid Covid-19 test on arrival, which if positive will lead to a subsequent PCR test to determine if isolation at a government hospital is necessary.

Once in Egypt, assuming you are negative, you could visit the Pyramids, the antiquities of the Nile or the Red Sea tourist resorts around Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh – which have inexpensive budget flights to the UK. On 21 December, for example, easyJet has a flight from Hurghada to Gatwick for just £43.

You must spend 10 full days away from red list countries to avoid hotel quarantine. After that, you must follow normal rules for travel to the UK – with a pre-departure test, a post-arrival PCR and a completed passenger locator form.

Overall, the total cost of an Egyptian diversion will be far lower than the price of hotel quarantine, and you should have a much better experience – though I cannot guarantee that Egypt will avoid being next for red listing.

my emphasis

[crewmeal]

Great!!! Just what Egypt doesn't need right now, Omicron through the back door. Thank you Simon Calder.

[PAXboy]

At the moment, BA and VS continue. Although I noticed by chance today that, both made daylight returns from JNB. This may be due to fewer Biz pax as well as other reasons. It will be interesting to see if they continue this during the current restrictions.

[TCU]

At the moment, BA and VS continue. Although I noticed by chance today that, both made daylight returns from JNB. This may be due to fewer Biz pax as well as other reasons. It will be interesting to see if they continue this during the current restrictions.

Yes PAXboy, BA42 flew over my house in Hout Bay at the untimely hour of 0900 this morning. Interestingly this was the timing of the BA repatriation flights in May/June last year. Perhaps something to do with crew duty?

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x1136/80ab35b3_c6f9_4d9a_86a8_218b51ad8eed_00bb6ff0f75dd376f9b6925 038ae1e26676078f3.png

[PAXboy]

UK removes all 11 countries from red list
BBC web news (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59653236)
The government has said that all 11 countries will be removed from the UK's travel red list from 4am on Wednesday.

Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are on the list.

The red list was reintroduced in late November as a precaution after the emergence of the Omicron variant.

But Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it had spread so widely the rules no longer had much purpose.

"Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad," he told Parliament.

"Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning."