South African Airways (SAA) has advised customers that flights on domestic routes would, from April 1, close 40 minutes before departure instead of the previous 30 minutes before boarding.
The change applied to flights departing from Johannesburg to Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London and would not affect minimum connecting time.
“The reason for closing flights earlier is to allow the airline to conclude all departure procedures timeously, especially those relating to baggage, so that our customers are not inconvenienced by possibly travelling with their baggage left behind,” said SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
Flights would close sooner but there would be no impact on current boarding times.
“We have realised that a significant number of short shipment cases on our domestic sectors emanate from late check-in and we trust that the new measures will go a long way in addressing the situation,” stated Tlali.