ATO (Air Tour Operators)
has reintroduced its
direct charter flights
on SAA to the Maldives this
month but the advertised
schedules indicate that flights
are operating on an ad hoc
basis rather than a confirmed
weekly schedule.
After a “successful launch
period” in December and
January, ATO signed a new
agreement with SAA to
resume regular, once-weekly
flights to Gan International
Airport, between April 21 and
January 31, 2020, cutting
flying time from Johannesburg
to Maldives down to 6 hours
and 50 minutes.
However, in June when
TNW followed up with md of
ATO Tours, Keith Gow, it was
confirmed that the flights had
been temporarily suspended
due to low load factors.
Keith cited uncertainty in the
industry during the lead-up to
elections as a reason for this
and advised that the flights
were expected to resume in
September.
The ATO website currently
advertises set departures
for seven-night packages on
September 22, November 30,
December 7, 14, 21, 28 and
on January 4 and 11.
An ITC, who wished to
remain anonymous, said that
she was concerned about the
number of flight cancellations
and said she was “hanging
ten” before making any
further bookings.
However, Keith says the
market has turned in
ATO’s favour. He says the
operator is receiving a large
number of enquiries from the
public and he expects to have
paid out over R10 million
in commission to the trade
by the end of January for
packages to the Maldives.
“The flights are filling
quickly, with our September
22 flight operating at 100%
capacity. We are also offering
eight round-trip flights this
December. On the days that
our charter flights are not
operating, we can also assist
passengers with scheduled
flight services on other
carriers to the Maldives,”
adds Keith.
