Following the threat of an aircraft seizure Airlink had suspended services to Nampula in Mozambique while it monitored the situation. The South African carrier has now confirmed it will now resume services to and from Nampula on 9 January after authorities defused the situation.
Airlink paused flights to Nampula in northeastern Mozambique on 7 January, following a claim for damages by two Mozambican passengers offloaded from an Airlink flight in Johannesburg on 7 December.
Dubious claim
The claim, which Airlink said had been granted in “seemingly dubious and nefarious circumstances” was accompanied by an application to have Airlink’s aircraft seized in Mozambique. As such the airline’s CEO and Managing Director, Rodger Foster said it was unfair to expect any airline to “continue providing a service under such conditions” and confirmed that services to and from Nampula were to be suspended while the matter was dealt with through proper legal and diplomatic channels.
South African authorities, including the Department of International Relations & Cooperation, the Department of Transport, the SA Civil Aviation Authority and their counterparts in Mozambique, have now apparently defused the situation sufficiently to enable flights without Airlink aircraft being unlawfully impounded upon arrival at the Mozambique hub.
Authorities step in
“While an attempt to seize our aircraft remains a possibility as long as the Nampula Provincial Court order has not been withdrawn, we have been assured that local officials will not attempt to execute it,” said Foster on Wednesday 8 January.
He also noted that Airlink maintains “the court order, along with the claim against Airlink by two passengers who were recently offloaded from one of our flights after their unruly and threatening behaviour, are flawed and without merit.”
The South African carrier, which provides around 70 per cent of commercial air travel between South Africa and Mozambique with flights serving Maputo, Beira, Tete, Vilanculos and Pemba, will continue to monitor the situation.
Image source: Airlink
