Flights at Cape Town International Airport are being delayed by up to 45 minutes because of a fire at a nearby substation on Tuesday morning, an official said.

Airport spokesperson Deborah Francis confirmed there was an interruption to the main power feed around 11:00.

“Currently the airport is running on essential backup power that allows for core systems to operate. The team is working tirelessly to ensure that disruptions to operations are kept at a minimum,” she said.

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) spokesperson Deidre Davids said the focus was to process passengers as effectively and safely as possible.

The fire was at the Eskom Airport substation and technical staff immediately reported to the site, said provincial Eskom spokesperson Jolene Henn.

She said they could start repairing the damage only once the fire was extinguished and the area declared safe.

Areas with interrupted power supply were Nyanga, Bishop Lavis and Airport Industrial.

“We are trying to connect customers via alternative supply points to minimise the impact, but at this stage we estimate full restoration at approximately 17:00 today.”

A technical investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire.

“We request customers to treat all electrical installations as live for the full duration of the unplanned interruption,” she said. -News24

Source: News 24 wire