LATEST TRAVEL NEWS
SOUTH AFRICA – IMPORTANT UPDATE – TRAVEL WITH MINOR CHILDREN
The Home Affairs Minister has announced that, in order to ease the legal requirements for travelling internationally with minor children, the details of the child’s parents will, going forward, be printed on the last page of the child’s passport. This means that parents will no longer be required to travel with an unabridged birth certificate.
The implementation of this system upgrade is scheduled to begin from 13 July 2018.
The Minister noted that if a child was not travelling with its parents (one or both), written consent and documentation would still be required.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS
Etihad is launching a new Standard Seat option on all flights from 15 July 2018. Passengers can now choose from a wider range of Economy Class seating options for an additional fee.
Standard Seat – Available to passengers booking an Economy Deal, Saver or Classic fare.
Preferred Seat – Passengers can choose a seat nearer the exit or elsewhere in the cabin.
Extra Legroom Seat – Passengers requiring greater legroom comfort can now pre-book their seat.
CANADA
Passengers applying for Canadian visas will have to submit their biometrics in person at the Pretoria-based VSF application centre. At this point it is not known whether any other South African submission centres have been provided for this service.
Applicants who are required to submit biometrics will receive a Biometric Letter of Instruction from the Government of Canada informing them that they will be unable to obtain a Canadian visa without first submitting their biometrics to VSF.
When supplying biometrics, applicants will also need to provide:
- Passport
- The Biometric Letter of Instruction.
MAURITIUS
Air Mauritius has updated their hand luggage policy as follows:
Passengers are entitled to one piece of hand baggage in Economy Class, and two pieces of hand baggage in Business Class at no additional charge. Each piece of hand baggage should not exceed 7kg and 115 cm (Length + Width + Height), so that it can fit underneath the aircraft seat or in the baggage compartment.
The maximum weight per luggage item is 12kg and passengers will be required to pay for any excess weight at a rate of 10 Euros per excess kilogram.
SOUTH AFRICA
On 1 October, Airlink will suspend its Pietermaritzburg-Cape Town route. Passengers with confirmed tickets on the route for travel after 29 September will be offered a full refund by the airline.
Airlink said it would reinstate the route if there was an upturn in the economy, and it became economically viable to do so.
Bidvest Car Rental is in the process of relocating their Head Office to 15 Anvil Street, Isando. Their new office site will be operational from 20 July. During the move, landline connections will be affected on 16 and 1& July but the Reservations number (086 101 7722) will remain operational.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A new international arrivals facility has opened at the San Diego International Airport. The facility, in Terminal 2 will make use of biometric and facial recognition technology from US Customs and Border Protection to improve the processing times for international passengers. International gates at the airport have also been increased from three to six. The new facility will serve the following airlines: Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Edelweiss Air, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines.
ZIMBABWE
Fastjet has announced the commencement of daily flights between Harare and Bulawayo from 20 July; the flight schedule is, however, still to be released.
