Luggage rechecking costing EA customers - MPs

LOBAMBA – The rechecking of luggage at the next airport after boarding Eswatini Air (EA) is costing the entity customers, as highlighted by Members of Parliament (MPs).

For example, if a customer boards an Eswatini Air aircraft and lands at OR Tambo in South Africa, instead of having their luggage directly transferred into the subsequent airline, it has to be rechecked, which is an inconvenience and a time consuming process.

This inconvenience was raised by Pigg’s Peak MP Jabulani Mabuza, who is the Speaker of the House of Assembly, highlighting that the ministry should look into it and work around making it easy for customers utilising the services of Eswatini Air.

Prior to the MPs submission, Minister Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe had highlighted the challenge in his preamble and he pleaded for patience from emaSwati and all customers of the entity.

He said the ministry and relevant stakeholders were working around it but it was a matter of policies, and there was no short-cut to it.

Meanwhile, Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini wondered where the other airplane procured by Eswatini Air was. His contention was that some time back, the entity announced the procurement of two aircraft, but the report of the ministry suggested that for the last three quarters of the current financial year, they had been utilising only one aircraft.

Faults

“Where is the other aircraft? Is it an issue of mechanical faults because if so, then it leaves a lot to be desired. This is because the entity assured the nation that they had bought aircraft meeting the required standards and if they are now digging into the taxpayer’s money for maintenance, then it is inconvenient,” he said.

Stated in the ministry’s report was that during the reporting period, the Royal Eswatini National Airways Corporation (RENAC) successfully performed the required scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance for the corporation’s aircraft.