[This one is too funny. Cape Town International airport was shut down for hours due to a mysterious hole in the runway. It is reported that this was due to a cargo plane actually damaging the runway!! But the airport denies this. They say it was a “natural phenomenon”… Ahem… Either way, the airport was closed and it was completely chaotic.

I’ve never heard of a hole just appearing in a runway before, and it makes me wonder in what condition the runway actually is. Maybe someone should teach them about a little thing called “Boring Routine Maintenance” – which other people in other countries do and that’s why holes don’t “suddenly appear” in the runways at Heathrow, JFK, Schipol, etc. Ah! Maybe its those damned Namibian Demons doing it? Jan]

Angry passengers suffered a knock-on effect on Monday of Sunday’s six-hour delay at Cape Town International Airport to repair a gaping hole and other damage to a runway.

On Sunday jets were left in a stack circling the airport before repairs were completed at 5pm. Upcountry flights to the Cape were cancelled or diverted.

The Airports Company of South Africa said on Monday that it had decided to close the runway because it was not taking any chances with safety.

Some passengers were threatened with removal from the airport
An Acsa official said runways were checked regularly, because the airport was such a “sensitive environment”. However, everything was back to normal and fully operational on the runway.

At Johannesburg International this morning, a group of passengers travelling to Cape Town told how they argued for meal vouchers and battled to find out what was happening – and ended up sleeping on mats on the airport floor.

In the group were two babies and an 11-year-old, as well as tourists from Italy and Sweden with little English.

Some passengers were threatened with removal from the airport as they became more vocal and frustration levels hit boiling point.

This group’s flight was scheduled to leave at 4pm on Sunday but they were now expected to leave for Cape Town at 10am on Monday.

‘The staff are not trained to deal with situations like these and they are rude’

The senior communications officer at Acsa in Cape Town, Deidre Hendricks, said: “From our side we were trying to provide airlines with assistance to ensure the processing of passengers. However, I am aware that there has been a knock-on effect (this morning as a results of yesterday’s delays).”

Hendricks confirmed there was a backlog on Monday morning.

“We can see it on our (computer) terminals,” she said.

But she said individual airlines should be asked to find out what percentage of passengers they had been able to process on Sunday and early on Monday.

On Sunday thousands of passengers travelling to and from Cape Town International were delayed indefinitely.

International flights departing from Cape Town International were not affected and incoming flights which could not land in Cape Town were diverted to airports in Durban, Port Elizabeth and George.

Hendricks said Acsa had closed the runway in order to repair a “pavement surface defect”. This defect had been picked up on Sunday morning and Acsa was taking no chances.

Hendricks said the tarmac had been lifting on the runway.

“A range of factors including stress and environmental factors could have resulted in the pavement surface defect,” she said.

Hendricks dismissed reports from other sources that an aircraft had landed badly and ripped up the runway.

Acsa closed the runway to incoming flights at about 11am and reopened it at about 5pm.

Hundreds of frustrated passengers stood in long queues for refreshments, toilets and drinks or battled to find somewhere to sit in overcrowded lounges.

Zolani Mahola, lead singer of hit band FreshlyGround, and drummer Peter Cohen were among those left stranded on Sunday.

The band was scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg at 1:30 and perform at a concert but at 1pm they were still stuck in Cape Town.

Italian tourist Calaso Paulao was due to depart for Johannesburg at 3.30pm in order to catch a connecting flight to Zurich at 8.30pm.

But on Sunday at about 7pm he was still at Cape Town.

“They said they would put me on the first available flight, but I am still here and I don’t think I will make my flight to Zurich,” he said.

An upset Alfred Vismer, who was returning to Johannesburg after a conference in Cape Town, said the airport had been a “complete madhouse” on Sunday night.

He said he had been appalled when the runway was opened at 5pm and people who had just walked into the airport were given preference.

“I have spent hours waiting. I was supposed to be on a flight this morning and people who just walked in at 3 or 4pm were put on flights before me.”

Tracey Turner said: “It’s like they don’t even care that you have been waiting here for so many hours. The staff are not trained to deal with situations like these and they are rude and really not helpful,” she said.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on November 28, 2005

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>