South African airline Airlink has cancelled a planned flypast ahead of Saturday's Springboks-All Blacks rugby Test. The airline stated on Wednesday that it withdrew its application for a formation flyby before the Rugby Championship clash at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, citing forecasts of unfavourable weather conditions.
This cancellation comes as the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is conducting a compliance verification of a similar display performed by Airlink last week. On 29 August, two Airlink Embraer aircraft flew in formation over Cape Town's DHL Stadium, with the lead aircraft reportedly passing less than 50 feet above the stadium.
The SACAA executive, Phindiwe Gwebu, confirmed that the authority is conducting a compliance verification to ensure all safety protocols were adhered to during the previous flypast. Airlink maintains that the display was performed safely by experienced crews and has voluntarily provided flight data recorder downloads to the SACAA.
The Springboks and All Blacks are currently level at 1-1 in their four-Test Greatest Rivalry series, heading into Saturday's encounter at Soccer City in Soweto.