Stormy weather wrought havoc at OR Tambo International airport on Friday, delaying flights and inconveniencing passengers, the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) said on Saturday.
”There were 163 [plane] delays on arrivals, and a further 215 delays on departure,” Acsa spokesperson Tasniem Patel said.
She said the bad weather had affected visibility, and disrupted air-traffic control because of problems with the radar.
Three South African Airways (SAA) flights had to be diverted to other airports.
”Flights coming from Cape Town and Mauritius had to diverted to Durban International, and another arrival from East London had to land at Lanseria airport,” said SAA spokesperson Sarah Uys.
Two other planes Scheduled to travel to Durban, were grounded at the airport overnight.
Dave Sleeps — a passenger on the flight to Durban — who was forced to stay overnight at the airport, described the incident as frustrating.
”Nobody told us about what was happening … all we could do was sit and monitor the screens — telling us that our flight had been delayed, and then cancelled. SAA did not even provide accommodation,” Sleeps said.
Uys apologised for the inconvenience.
”I apologise on behalf of the SAA team leaders who should have informed passengers about the flight cancellations,” Uys said.
Repairs
The storm also knocked out electricity out in several areas of Johannesburg.
”Friday afternoon’s thunderstorms, blew over many trees onto power lines. The power lines were either damaged by the trees, causing short circuiting, or cut-off completely,” City Power spokesperson Louis Pieterse said.
The failures occurred mainly in Johannesburg’s eastern and northern suburbs.
”Almost 30 teams of technicians have been working throughout the night to make the necessary repairs. Some of these lines may have to be rebuilt, so I cannot say exactly when power would be restored.”
He said that a low-voltage power line could take up to four or five hours to be restored.
Affected areas include: Lyndhurst, Waverley, Bramley, Kew, Glenhazel, Wynberg, Kensington, Killarney, Houghton, Orange Grove, Melrose, Inanda, Fairmount, Linksfield, Observatory, Bez Valley, Blairgowrie, Ferndale, Greenside, Linden, Northcliff, Randburg and Weltervreden Park.
Electricity supplier Eskom said that load-shedding would not take place during the course of the day. – Sapa