SA Airlink looks at ways of circumventing EU ban

MBABANE – All Swaziland air carriers have been banned from the European Union due to “appalling safety standards and a lack of critically important maintenance and mechanical checks,” according to EU Transport Commissioner, Jacques Barrot. In the case of Swaziland’s largest air carrier, Swazi Airlink, this may seem a moot point because the company’s commuter jets ply the Matsapha to Johannesburg, Durban and Maputo routes only. However, a source at Swazi Airlink said the parent company, SAA Airlink, a division of South African Airways, was unhappy with the ban, and could circumvent it by re-registering the carrier as a South African company. No Swazi air carrier has ever suffered a fatal air crash, but safety standards at Matsapha International Airport are a recurring problem. Air carriers registered in Swaziland have been swept up in the EU crackdown.