Daily Maverick was the guest of the International Air Transport Association at its annual general meeting in Rio de Janeiro this past weekend, and the proceedings quickly turned into a call for tax exemptions.
“Johannesborgo! Johannesborgo!”
Flight LA3875 from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo landed 43 minutes late. The undercarriage touched down after boarding had begun for transatlantic flight LA8058 to Johannesburg. Covering the nearly 600 meter walkway between Terminals T2 and T3, as well as going through passport checks, was always going to be an inconvenient challenge.
To make things even worse, someone (I) had to sky-check my carry-on the entire flight on the Airbus A321 and due to limited overhead storage – which meant a detour to baggage collection (sky-check on the opposite leg of the trip sent the luggage to the carousel, but I should have checked the tags this time).
Economic Turbulence Consumer Commission calls FlySafair's overbooking strategy 'unconscionable conduct' May 22, 2026 Several meters of retractable belt holding the corners of my overstuffed roll-top backpack, I handed my passport to the officer as the clock ticked down for boarding. I had tears in my eyes when I heard the sweet scream of a ground staff employee who was searching for missing passengers.
It also led me to consider the point made by IATA Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Thomas Reinert, when he said that airlines need more tax cuts to help…