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Health Alert: Announcing June 18 Repatriation Flight on Ethiopian Airlines — U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Afri
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22 MINUTE READ
June 12, 2020

Health Alert: Announcing June 18 Repatriation Flight on Ethiopian Airlines – U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa (June 12, 2020)

Location: South Africa

Event:  The South African Ministry of Health has confirmed 58,568 cases of COVID-19 within its borders.

Announcing June 18 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 

We have been notified of a special commercial repatriation flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines to Chicago, United States on Thursday, June 18. 

Flight information: 

  • Potential passengers must book their tickets directly with Ethiopian Airlines. 
  • The flight will depart from Johannesburg and then Cape Town on Thursday, June 18 before proceeding to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and onward to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, United States. 
  • Passengers will be responsible for travel to their final destination in the United States from Chicago O’Hare. 
  • This flight is open to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and visa holders who have received DHA approval to depart South Africa. 
  • Passengers will be responsible for finding transportation to the required assembly point, which will be communicated by Ethiopian Airways prior to the flight departure. 
  • Travel permission letters for U.S. citizens and green card holders are not required unless you will be crossing provinces to arrive at the assembly point.  If you must cross a provincial border to join this repatriation flight, please write to SAEvacuation@state.gov requesting a travel letter.  Include your name, passport or greencard number, current address, and flight confirmation. 
  • For any questions regarding availability, cost, baggage allowance, or other flight details, please contact Ethiopian Airlines directly at JNBTrade@ethiopianairlines.com. 

For South African Citizens wishing to travel to the United States for residence, work or study as allowed by the Government of South Africa 

DHA is not requiring individualized letters from the US Embassy or Consulate for South African citizens with valid U.S. visas or travel documents.  Please contact DHA with the additional information they require to issue permission to depart South Africa. 

U.S. Mission Repatriation Efforts  

If you would like to depart South Africa, we highly recommend you avail yourself of any available opportunity, even if it is not your desired flight route.  We cannot guarantee frequency of special repatriation, nor can we guarantee that previously scheduled commercial flights will depart as planned.  We do not have further information about when regular international commercial flights will resume. 

To date, the U.S. Mission to South Africa has coordinated on over twenty repatriation flights with many airline and friendly mission partners since the government lockdown, returning over 1500 U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and visa holders to the United States.  We will continue to advertise any information we receive about special repatriation flights via STEP. 

Please see all past alerts at the U.S. Embassy website: https://za.usembassy.gov/category/alert/ 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Notice for South Africa.

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Operating Status:  Effective March 26, 2020, U.S. Consulates General Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban have suspended routine consular services.  For emergency American Citizens Services, including emergency passports, please visit our websites for additional information.

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