Rudi Vorster and his son. They luckily had chairs with them because they were going to watch cricket.

Ben and Daniel Korn from England.

Rudi Vorster and his son. They luckily had chairs with them because they were going to watch cricket.

Paul Fikipo from the DRC.

Margeax Swartz painting her nails.

Vanes-Mari Du Toit, Springbok Netball player. She had to take a bus down to Cape Town for a wedding she attended.

Music group Tidalwaves who missed their gig in Wellington.

All Velvet Sky flights cancelled

2012-02-23 16:14

Johannesburg - A business dispute caused all Velvet Sky flights on Thursday to be cancelled, the low-cost airline said.

"We had to cancel all our flights today," Velvet Sky spokesperson Gary Webb said.

"We are in a dispute with a service provider. We are in the process of changing service providers so we started that process today [Thursday], but it was not concluded in time to operate."

The broad-based black economic empowerment company is based in Durban and flies between that city, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Earlier on Thursday, the airline apologised and said flights were only delayed not cancelled.

Velvet Sky said the delays, which started on Wednesday, were caused by circumstances beyond its control.

"Velvet Sky management however continues to work very hard in ensuring that there is minimal disruption in our operation."

Airports Company SA (Acsa) confirmed the delays.

Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale said Wednesday's delays were primarily out of Cape Town. The delays on Thursday were from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Webb said passengers would be reimbursed on merit. Some people would receive refunds and others flights to their destination on other airlines.

"We are going to have a bit of a backlog because of today, but we should be okay."

He advised customers to check their flights on the Velvet Sky website or phone the call centre. The airline would also contact passengers via SMS.

"We are doing our best to keep all our passengers accommodated," Webb said.

- SAPA