JOHANNESBURG - South African-based domestic and regional airline Airlink said on Tuesday it was adjusting its schedule for early morning and evening departures so that passengers could comply with new Covid-19 curfew times with minimal disruption to their travel plans.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night announced more stringent restrictions to try and tame surging coronavirus cases, including expanding the country’s night-time curfew to 9pm - 6am.
Before the move, an 11pm - 4am curfew was in place for most parts of the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Airlink said the changes would affect its flights that were originally due to depart prior to 8am and those arriving after 8pm. These would be rescheduled to depart as soon after 8am as possible and where applicable to arrive before 8pm.
In some instances, flights might be consolidated, the carrier added.
“These schedule adjustments will provide customers departing on morning flights with sufficient time to commute to airports and complete the necessary health, security and immigration checks without breaking the curfew,” Airlink said.
“It will also enable passengers landing on evening flights to complete the arrival procedures and commute to their homes or accommodation by the 21:00 curfew.”
The adjusted schedule would apply at least until January 15 when the South African government was due to review the efficacy of its adjusted ’Level 3’ lockdown restrictions in slowing the rate of Covid-19 infections in hotspot areas, the airline said.
Airlink is a privately-owned regional airline serving a comprehensive network of smaller destinations throughout southern Africa.
In 2019, its fleet of more than 50 modern commercial jetliners carried two million customers on more than 63,000 flights, on 55 routes to 39 destinations in nine African countries and the island of St Helena.
ANA