Durban - A day after celebrating its inaugural flight to Durban, Lift Airline suffered a flight delay on Thursday, leaving Gauteng to Durban passengers waiting for over an hour before boarding.
It is said the delay was over a maintenance issue.
IOL's Sihle Mlambo said he was meant to board at 11.40am and take-off was scheduled for midday.
“We were then asked to get off the plane around 1.30pm or so and we were taken to another Lift flight which was originally scheduled for Cape Town around 2pm,” he said.
Mlambo said his flight eventually took off before 3pm.
“So what they basically did was to take a decision to delay all their flights as a means to try to get the original Durban flight fixed. This flight ended up being the Cape Town flight. Once our flight got delayed, it had an immediate impact on a 4pm Durban-Jozi flight, and the Jozi-Cape Town flight scheduled for around 2pm had still not left Joburg at about 6pm,” Mlambo said.
Day 2 of the Joburg-Durban Lift Airline route and we are delayed onboard for over an hour due to maintenance issues. Well that's a fantastic start, well done @LiftAirlineSA!
Update: We are still in Joburg. We have been de-planed from flight GE209 on D1 to D7. You swopped us around with a Cape Town flight GE153 merely to buy time. At this rate I should have saved myself a R1000 and taken the bus. Again well done guys, great start to DUR-JNB route. https://t.co/eaqudNiyju
— Sihle To You ✍🏿️📝 (@SihleSays) October 27, 2022
First time flying with @LiftAirlineSA and totes not the last. Partly because we have a return flight, but mainly because of the incredible vibe, service, coffee and food. (And possibly a free flight after this Tweet) 🙂🚠🚡 pic.twitter.com/7ii3OEAdhS
— Ryan Lee Warner (@RyanLeeWarner) October 25, 2022
CEO and co-founder of Life Airlines, Jonathan Ayache, confirmed the delay.
Unfortunately, we experienced a delay on one of our flights today. During the mandatory pre-flight inspection, our pilots picked up on a snag with the aircraft windshield anti-ice system. This is an essential piece of equipment that is needed due to the meteorological conditions experienced over Gauteng and Northern KZN," he said.
The start-up airline, established two years ago, will be flying between Gauteng and Durban.
IOL