Passengers affected by the shock grounding of all SA Express flights on Thursday will have to wait up to a month, maybe more, for their ticket refunds, TimesLive reported. In the meantime, SA Express has reportedly said it will accommodate passengers will an alternative flight if they choose this instead of a refund, but there are many routes not operated by other airlines.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) grounded SA Express with immediate effect on Thursday citing safety concerns, according to Business Day. The certificates of airworthiness for nine of SA Express' aircraft were also suspended, meaning SA Express can't operate as an airline anymore.
SACAA reportedly said it had recently audited the airline and its maintenance organisation, had uncovered serious cases of non-compliance that posed serious safety risks. SACAA reportedly said it had made 17 findings of noncompliance against the airline, of which five were categorised as "severe... that poses a very serious safety risk to the public".
According to TimesLive, many passengers have been left with little alternative, as there is no competition on many of SA Express' 17 routes, including the Joburg-Richards Bay route.
SA Express acting chief executive Matsietsi Mokholo reportedly said the carrier would accommodate passengers on other airlines and refund tickets. However, there are many routes not operated by other airlines, including Cape Town to Bloemfontein, and SA Express will reportedly compensate passengers if these costs are higher than their SA Express tickets.
But spokesman Refilwe Masemola told TimesLive that passengers have been asked to be patient as the number of queries SA Express has been large, and the wait for refunds could be about 21 working days.
According to eNCA, South African Airways (SAA) said all efforts were being made to assist stranded SA Express passengers.
In a statement, SAA reportedly said, "SAA has an interline agreement with SA Express and has mobilised teams at the airports to assist the passengers. We apologise to all our customers for the inconvenience caused by the suspension of SA Express services. SAA will provide regular updates on the situation and will use all its official communication channels to share information on the status of the flights."
On 11 May, an SA Express flight from East London to Johannesburg experienced an explosion just after takeoff, TimesLive reported. The explosion was reportedly due to an engine malfunction.
Last week, SA Express executives told Parliament that the carrier will need a government bailout to continue to operate, as banks will no longer support it without a turnaround plan backed by government. According to Fin24, the airline's financial troubles mean that its 2016/17 financial statements can't be signed off until government funding is secured, and it is operating at a loss of -4.75 percent.