Charter jets cause airport chaos
By Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports Wednesday, Jul 7, 2010
Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo
DURBAN, South Africa – Soccer fans were left heartbroken on Wednesday when air-traffic chaos allegedly caused by celebrity charter flights caused hundreds of supporters to miss the World Cup semifinal between Spain and Germany.
Durban’s King Shaka International Airport was temporarily shut down in the hours leading up to Wednesday’s game due to an unplanned influx of air traffic traveling from Cape Town, where the first semifinal was held Tuesday night.
The anger of fans was only intensified by claims that delays of more than five hours, plus redirected flights, were caused by the addition of specially chartered services for VIPs. Charlize Theron and Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were among the A-list celebrities who arrived as part of a mass influx of chartered and private jets, according to Colin Naidoo, a spokesman for the Durban airport.
[Photos: See more of Academy Award winner Charlize Theron]
“We did have some delays which were compounded by the fact we had air-traffic congestion,” said Naidoo. “At a certain stage air-traffic control decided to close arrivals to the airport.
“Some fans didn’t manage to get to the game because we had to turn those aircraft back. We had lots of air traffic from the two countries that are playing.”
A riot nearly erupted on one flight when fans were told they were being redirected due to the number of business jets on the runway and attempted to storm the cockpit, according to Durban’s most widely read morning paper, The Mercury. Spain fan Ester Goncalves told Yahoo! Sports that several members of her group had seen their dreams of watching Spain’s match, which ended in a 1-0 victory, evaporate over the course of the day.
“I was lucky I drove down from Johannesburg,” said Goncalves. “Three of my friends made it only in time for the second half. Two more didn’t get here at all. It is not right. There should be better organization. It is bad for the World Cup.”
Several international journalists were among those whose schedules were severely delayed.
“Scheduled flight into Durban delayed [because South African] authorities sold too many charter flights to ‘stars,’ ” wrote British soccer writer John Cross of the London Daily Mirror on his Twitter account. “South Africa lost [the] World Cup plot today. Sold so many charter flights to rich and famous, leaving fans stranded and unable to get to Durban.
“Shame on [South African] greed. Shame on [the VIPs] for leaving carbon footprint, costing real fans. Airport shut, chaos.”
The air-traffic problems appear to be the likely cause behind the visible patches of empty seats at Moses Mabhida Stadium, even well into the match. The announced attendance, 60,960 was the lowest of all seven games at Durban during this World Cup.
Spain’s victory put it into the final, where it will take on the Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday.