Airlink resumes flights to Nampula following threat of aircraft seizure
South African carrier, Airlink, has today restarted flights to and from Nampula in northern Mozambique following the threat of aircraft seizure due to a claim from unruly passengers.
Airlink had…
January 9, 2025
South African carrier, Airlink, has today restarted flights to and from Nampula in northern Mozambique following the threat of aircraft seizure due to a claim from unruly passengers.
Airlink had suspended flights on Monday 7 January, following a claim for damages by two Mozambican passengers offloaded from an Airlink flight in Johannesburg in December.
Airlink said the claim, which was accompanied by an application to have Airlink’s aircraft seized in Mozambique, had been granted in “dubious and nefarious circumstances”.
The airline’s CEO Rodger Foster apologised for having to cancel flights to the region but warned that no airline could be expected to “continue providing a service under such conditions.”
The South African carrier provides around 70 per cent of commercial air travel between South Africa and Mozambique, with flights serving Maputo, Beira, Tete, Vilanculos and Pemba as well as Nampula.
Following the intervention of authorities from South Africa as well as Mozambique, including the Department of Transport and the SA Civil Aviation Authority, the situation has now been defused and Airlink assured that local authorities will not conduct an aircraft seizure.
“While an attempt to seize our aircraft remains a possibility, as long as the Nampula Provincial Cour order has not been withdrawn, we have been assured that local officials will not attempt to execute it,” Foster said.
He also maintained that the court order, along with the claim against Airlink by the two passengers who were recently offloaded after unruly and threatening behaviour, “are flawed and without merit.”
Airlink will continue to monitor the situation.
