Plane that landed unauthorized in South Africa has already returned to Luanda

The plane that landed in South Africa on Friday without permission belonged to Heli Malongo and was going to pick up 20 Chevron oil company passengers delayed due to TAAG flight cancellations and has already returned to Luanda.

The clarification was given today by the Angolan embassy in South Africa after the news of the arrest of the aircraft at the Cape Town airport due to the lack of a mandatory foreign operator permit (FOP).

According to the Angolan embassy, ​​the flight operator (Heli Malongo) “made a request for permission to fly and land in South Africa, but did not wait long enough for a response, so the South African authorities did not allow the crew of five to leave the aircraft, and also prevented boarding passengers.

A Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 D2-QUE was to pick up 20 Chevron oil passengers stranded in Cape Town due to flight cancellations by Angolan airline TAAG, whose pilots went on strike on Friday of ten days.

A press release from the Angolan embassy emphasizes that the plane has already returned to Luanda and the situation has returned to normal, contacting the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, which the diplomatic mission thanks for “prompt cooperation” in overcoming the situation.

The news, originally published by the online newspaper Eyewitness, indicated that the plane had been chartered by TAAG, but the airline denied any connection to the incident.

“TAAG, Linhas Aéreas de Angola denies any connection to the aircraft, which is in the care of the South African authorities at Cape Town International Airport,” the carrier said in a press release.

The aircraft “does not belong to the TAAG fleet, has not been contracted by TAAG to operate any charter flights, and is not registered on the TAAG Air Operator’s Certificate with the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), Angola’s industry regulator.” the same statement says.