South Africa’s airlines were clearing a backlog of flights on Monday after Cape Town International Airport was shut for more than five hours on Sunday due to a damaged runway.
The closure caused chaos at airports around the country as incoming flights to the country’s top tourist destination were postponed or cancelled.
Hundreds of people crammed into one of the country’s busiest airports in stifling heat waiting for the runway to be repaired and flights to resume.
“We experienced a knock-on effect (on Monday) as a result of the airport closing,” Airports Company of South Africa spokeswoman Deidre Hendricks told Reuters.
She said the closure was due to damage to the main runway, where the surface tar had lifted.
“There are a number of reasons, it could have been weather conditions, the temperature, excess water or stress factors ... (but) it was probably triggered by an event.”
Hendricks could not confirm media speculation that the damage was caused by an aircraft that landed on Sunday, adding that no plane had needed repairs done.
