South African Airways has issued an alert for customers to be aware that they have banned the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones on all its flights.
SAA took the decision based on safety considerations in the interests of passengers, crew and property and is in effect as of Wednesday, 19 October.
On Monday 17 October, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) issued a statement confirming the recalled Samsung Note 7 will be banned entirely from flights across SA, following the likes of countries such as the US, Australian, New Zealand and Japan.
This means, the Galaxy Note 7 device is prohibited completely and may not be carried by travellers on their persons, in carry-on baggage, in checked in baggage or as cargo.
“We initially placed a restriction on the use of the device where we prohibited the charging of this specific model on board our aircraft. However, the recall of the device by the manufacturer based on safety considerations and the announcements made by regulatory authorities in some key markets we fly to, have left us with no option but to comply,” say SAA Spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
Subsequent to the announcement by the manufacture to recall the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 regulators in various jurisdiction and countries have announced a ban on the device in respect of air transportation.
The announcement by the regulators obligates SAA as an airline to implement and comply with such a ban.
Further SAA is enjoined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) general provisions on safety to take steps to ensure safety of its operations as and when goods and/or products have not met safety requirements.
IATA’s position is stated as follows,“Lithium batteries that have been recalled by the manufacturer for safety reasons must not be shipped by air”. The Galaxy Note 7 is powered by lithium batteries and has since been recalled by the manufacturer.
“In the interests of standardising and maintaining operational safety and compliance with regulatory requirements it has become necessary to prohibit this specific model on board our aircraft. We are aware that Samsung remains one of the most popular brands worldwide and the decision is not an outright ban of all Samsung mobile devices – it is limited to Galaxy Note 7 only,” says Tlali.
The airline apologised for the inconvenience to passengers sayng it would be best to leave the device at home and that it will accept no liability for devices that may be confiscated in the process of ensuring compliance with the prohibition and that is general conditions of carriage still apply.
(culled from traveller24news24.com)
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