South Africa Flight Stops Briefly At Logan

BOSTON, MA — A Delta Air Lines flight flying from South Africa to Atlanta was diverted to Boston Sunday morning, numerous outlets report.

Delta Flight 201 was initially scheduled to fly directly from O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international Airport, but stopped at Logan just for just over an hour to refuel and change flight crews, Delta Air Lines said in a statement. The plane docked at Logan just a day before the U.S. instituted a partial travel ban on South Africa and many of its neighbors due to the spread of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant.

No passengers got off the plane, Delta said.

"This has to do with technical specifications of our A350 aircraft and the payload of this particular flight," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. "This can happen on ultra-long-haul flights when optimal operating conditions can’t be met.”

Delta flight 201 landed at Logan just before 9:30 a.m. and left for Atlanta at 10:37 a.m. The flight crew left the plane and was placed off duty because they had maxed out their on-duty hours, the statement continued.

The Delta spokesperson told the Boston Globe that the stop was “nothing COVID-related.”

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