Johannesburg - Airlink has had to reshuffle its flight schedule and hire other aircraft, following the grounding of 14 of its airplanes due to safety concerns.
"Airlink regrets to announce some changes to its normal flight schedule and apologises to its customers for the inconvenience this may cause over the next few days - coming especially as it does on Christmas Eve," the company's CEO Rodger Foster said in a statement on Thursday.
"We have had to reschedule some flights using our other aircraft and additional aircraft that we have hired in."
Fourteen of Airlink's Jetstream aircraft were grounded after the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) suspended their airworthiness status at midnight on Wednesday.
Foster said Airlink's Thursday morning services from Cape Town and Johannesburg departed on time.
"We have made arrangements to ensure that all of our passengers are accommodated and none are left stranded."
However, the airline asked that passengers phone the reservations helpline on 011-451-7350 to verify flight details.
SACAA took the decision to ground the planes after a plane in the fleet had to abort a take-off in Nelspruit on Wednesday morning due to low oil pressure and smoke coming out of the left-hand engine.
"As a result of this second incident, which is similar in nature to the one that occurred in Durban in September 2009, resulting in one fatality, the SACAA resolved that the safety and airworthiness of the SA Airlink Jetstream aircraft fleet could no longer be guaranteed," SACAA said in a statement.
The near-accident happened in the midst of a CAA audit into the fleet following a number of accidents and near-accidents over the last three months.
"The SACAA instituted a comprehensive audit of the SA Airlink flight operations, pilot training and aircraft maintenance procedures."
Three problems with the fleets' flight operations were detected and 12 concerns over maintenance procedures noted.
While SA Airlink did produce a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which the Civil Aviation Authority accepted, the plan would only be fully implemented by the end of January 2010.
Individual inspections on planes were being conducted at the time of Wednesday's Nelspruit incident.
The SACAA then decided the planes should not fly at all until safety problems were sorted out.
The other aircraft types operated by SA Airlink - the BAE 146 and Embraer 135 - will continue to make their way into the sky.
SACAA's aircraft safety general manager Obert Chakarisa said problems with the planes' engine seemed to be the cause of most technical malfunctions. "There were also operational problems in terms of how the crews responded [to the engine problems]"
He said the planes would not be going anywhere until Airlink had prepared them in a state fit for full airworthiness certification. "The operator is supposed to ensure that it presents an aircraft for operation that is safe and sound."
He said the manufacturer would also need to do the maintenance work necessary for safe passage on the craft.
"We cannot be negligent or reckless."
He said "similar trends" of technical problems in Airlink's two other types of planes had not been detected.
Referring to some of the problems the SACAA highlighted, Airlink's Foster said crews had the training to deal with technical emergencies.
"Our crews are trained to deal with engine failures on take-off."
He also laid blame on the manufacturer for engine problems.
"This maintenance of the engine component is beyond Airlink's control...
"The selection, installation and maintenance of the turbine seal plate is done by the engine manufacturer, Honeywell, during engine assembly."
He said Honeywell and the aircraft manufacturer BAE Systems would have to fix the problems before the plane's could take flight again.
- Sapa