Qatar Airways initially banned South African travellers after the discovery of the Omicron variant by South African scientists. Travellers were relieved when Qatar Airways announced that it would resume normal daily operations to Cape Town and Johannesburg starting December 12.
This announcement was made on December 10. However, shortly after this, Qatar Airways began notifying passengers that their flights have been suspended, seemingly making a u-turn on their previous statement.
READ: Qatar Airways reintroduces travel ban against SA after briefly lifting it
Qatar Airways has now confirmed it will extend the ban on South Africans, and flights from Luanda, Maputo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Lusaka and Harare will not be permitted until 12 January 2022.
According to Travel News, all outbound passengers from these destinations with flights already booked for this time period are to be rerouted on one of Qatar Airways’ interline partner’s flights.
Picture: Fasyah Halim/Unsplash
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