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Qatar Airways gave hope to many travelers last week when the airline announced it would resume flights on December 12th. They announced a double daily connection between Johannesburg and Doha and a daily connection between Cape Town and Doha.
Travelers eager to see family or friends, or catch a connecting flight from Qatar to an exotic destination in South Africa, soon found they couldn’t travel as the airline was quick to cancel resumed flights.
Qatar has suspended all flights from seven destinations, including Luanda, Angola; Maputo, Mozambique; Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; and Harare in Zimbabwe, due to the Omicron variant.
Business Insider South Africa reported that the airline had to postpone the resumption of outbound passenger service from South Africa for operational reasons. Travelers used Twitter to voice their complaints.
My family cannot come to South Africa. I can’t go to them. Thank you Qatar for stranding us all
– only Nats 🇿🇦💍🇩🇪 (@ FräuleinHufkie) December 13, 2021
User @susannadv wrote: “Hello @qatarairways If you are encouraging others to open their borders to South Africa, why have you canceled my flight from Cape Town to Doha for next week, December 19th? Greetings to Confused Fully Vaccinated South African Citizens. ” (sic). Another was upset that he couldn’t see his [email protected] Posted: “My family cannot come to South Africa. I cannot go to them. Thank you Qatar for stranding us all.” (sic)
Another user, @ Amir_RN90, called it “shameful”. “Shameful. They don’t care how stuck we are here in South Africa. While they claim to be 5-star airlines. Nonsense and stupid acts. They need to get back on track,” he said. (sic).
Shameful. They don’t care how stuck we are here in South Africa. While they claim to be 5 star airlines. Nonsense and stupid acts. You need to resume operations
– Amir Rezazadeh N (@ Amir_RN90) December 13, 2021
Request
Many travelers asked the airline to review their decision. User @ venom_84 posted: “There is nowhere to go from South Africa … please reverse the unfair ban on passengers from South Africa … the only thing South Africa did wrong was brilliant scientists doing the right thing and the world informed about Omicron … unlike others. ” (sic).
User @ SabaKJ186 posted: “Omicron is also found in the UK and the cases are much higher than South Africa but there are 35 flights going there every week. And we South Africans can’t get 1 flight a day? If this is not discrimination? What is it ??? #liftthetravelban #enddiskrimination #befair “(sic). Qatar has not yet issued a formal notice of the postponement.
