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CHRISTCHURCH AIRPORT / Supplied
The South African Airways flight arrives in Christchurch.
Christchurch Airport has received an unusual visitor to these shores: South African Airways (SAA) flight SA2984 from Johannesburg.
The A346 touched down on the South Island at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday morning after a 12-hour 42-minute journey, according to FlightAware. This is the first time SAA has arrived in Christchurch.
The service is a repatriation flight that takes home 156 Kiwis who have been stranded abroad. New Zealanders will now spend 14 days in controlled isolation.
On Thursday, the plane will travel back to South Africa.
Christchurch airport
It’s not every day you see three German planes in Christchurch.
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It has been a difficult year for the state SAA. Administrators took over last December after years of financial losses. The airline needs at least R10 billion (NZ $ 893 million) in financing for an approved rescue plan to work, Reuters reports.
The airline joins a list of unlikely visitors to Christchurch since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The German airlines Lufthansa and Condor, as well as Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines, have traveled to the South Island to take thousands of people home on merciful flights.
Reported flight
The trip took just under 13 hours according to FlightAware.
