SWISS makes a stopover in Namibia

SWISS A340: On the return flight from Johannesburg to Zurich, the airline makes a refuelling stop in Windhoek.  Photo (2011): Kentaro Iemoto, Wikipedia 

There was talk that the Swiss holiday airline Edelweiss would soon be flying to Windhoek. Now its sister SWISS has beaten it to the punch. According to a report by the portal AeroTelegraph.com, SWISS aircraft have been landing at Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) on the return flight from Johannesburg to Zurich for several days.

However, no passengers are allowed to disembark. This is merely a stopover for refuelling. This is because Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) has run out of jet fuel.

The reason: there was a fire at the refinery in Sasolburg, south of Johannesburg, at the beginning of January. The damaged plant will probably not be operational again for another four weeks. Everything possible was done to prevent a jet fuel shortage on ORTIA. However, the measures taken are not sufficient to cover the entire demand.

According to a report on AeroTelegraph.com (only in German), several European airlines are therefore making refuelling stops at airports in the region on their return flights. Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has been landing in Windhoek for days. Lufthansa makes a diversion via Durban on its flight to Frankfurt. Their return flight to Munich stops in Luanda. Other airlines, including Air France, British Airways and KLM, seem to manage without refuelling.

Sven-Eric Stender