SACAA lifts suspension on SA Express flights

02 May 2016 - 10:17 By TMG Digital

SA Express has been given the green light to resume flights. The suspension of the airline’s Air Operator’s Certificate was lifted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday afternoon‚ a day after it grounded the state-owned passenger carrier for safety reasons. “Yay. The CAA has lifted our suspension & it is business as usual! Our normal flight schedule will kick into effect with immediate effect‚” SA Express tweeted. The airline was forced to cancel flights on Saturday‚ leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country‚ after the SACAA temporarily suspended its Air Operator’s Certificate‚ citing safety concerns.The aviation authority said it had suspended all SA Express Flights as a precaution to prevent potentially “catastrophic” incidents.SA Express said earlier on Sunday that following the suspension its executive management team had met with SACAA to obtain clarity on its audit related concerns and procedural issues that needed to be adhered to.“Following the meeting‚ we now understand SACAA’s requirements clearly and were able to respond accordingly. I thank our team members who have addressed each individual concern conscientiously and worked throughout the night to submit the correct and required paperwork to comply with the SACAA’s procedural requirements‚” said Inati Ntshanga‚ CEO of SA Express.“Since the first day we started operations in 1994‚ safety has always been our utmost priority and a business imperative that has never been negotiable. We have had an impeccable safety record for the past 22 years so when we received the notice for suspension‚ we were absolutely devastated but I can assure you that we are doing our utmost to set the record straight today.”Ntshanga apologised to passengers for the inconvenience. “We humbly apologise for the aggravation‚ the trouble and the disruption that we were responsible for and we thank our passengers for their support and understanding.“I assure them that the SA Express team and I will do everything in our power to make it up to them and to win back their confidence as South Africa’s best regional airline‚” Ntshanga said‚ adding that passengers had been accommodated on alternate carriers...

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