Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has welcomed the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa about the gradual lifting of restrictions on international flights under Alert Level 1 from 1 October.
“As has been the practice since March this year, we will be guided by specific regulations and directives from the Department of Transport and the regulating body, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) as they are published in the coming days,” says Mpumi Mpofu, CEO of ACSA.
“Our three international airports, O.R Tambo, King Shaka and Cape Town, are ready to facilitate cross-border travel and will continue to adhere to the measures and protocols that have been in place for domestic travel over the past few months.”
ACSA is urging travellers to be absolutely certain of their eligibility to fly and to ensure they are in possession of valid visas to enter or re-enter South Africa before booking flights.
In particular, travellers are asked to download the Covid Alert South Africa mobile app and must comply with the following requirements:
* On arrival, travellers will need to present a negative Covid-19 test result not older than 72 hours from time of departure;
* All travellers will be screened on arrival and those presenting with symptoms will be required to have Covid-19 test; and
* Where necessary, travellers will need to enter mandatory quarantine facilities at their own cost.
People wishing to travel across borders are urged to monitor the ACSA website for airports and airlines operating during Level 1 and the airline web sites for availability of flights.
“We expect the number of international passengers to grow gradually as this is an important step on the road to recovery,” says Mpofu. “We greatly look forward to once again welcoming international visitors to our international airports and to South Africa.”