South African Airways (SAA) scheduled flights between Johannesburg and Perth have been affected by falling debris from SpaceX rockets.
South African Airways has seen delays and disruptions to its direct scheduled flights between Johannesburg and Perth in Western Australia.
The Guardian reports that South African Airways (SAA) flights between OR Tambo International Airport and Perth International Airport have been impacted by falling rocket debris entering the Earth’s atmosphere along this route’s flight path.
SAA PERTH FLIGHTS
The airline relaunched this route in April 2024 with three rotations per week.
On 7 January 2025, South African Airways increased the frequency of its operations on this route to five weekly flights.
Flight SA 280 operates from Johannesburg to Perth while flight SA 281 operates from Perth to Johannesburg.
The South African airline operates these flights with an Airbus A340-300 aircraft.
SPACEX DEBRIS DISRUPTS SAA PERTH FLIGHTS
That said, SAA is not the only carrier that is being impacted by the falling SpaceX debris.
Australia’s flag carrier, Qantas, has also been forced to delay several of its flight departures to South Africa.
It offers scheduled flights between Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport and Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.
These are operated up to six times per week.
RISK POSED BY FALLING SPACEX DEBRIS
South African Airways flights also follow a similar flight path to that taken by Qantas’ flights between Sydney and Johannesburg.
Qantas has repeatedly delayed scheduled flights from Sydney to Johannesburg due to falling debris from SpaceX rockets re-entering the atmosphere.
The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which carry both satellites and humans into space, often target the southern Indian Ocean for re-entry due to its remoteness.
While certain parts of these rockets are reusable, some components burn on re-entry.
This results in falling debris that poses a risk to the safety of flying aircraft.
