Last week’s news that Mango was planning to stop operating and go into business rescue was a blow for local operators who have been investing heavily in promoting Zanzibar as one of only a handful of destinations welcoming to South African travellers at present.
William Ndlovu – acting ceo – initially sent out an email on Thursday indicating that Mango would continue to operate until May 1, but the airline later sent out an updated notification, warning passengers that it would temporarily cease operations to Zanzibar at midnight on April 25. However, local operators, who worked through the weekend trying to assist affected guests, have told Travel News that the airline now says it will still operate its Johannesburg-Zanzibar flight on Tuesday, April 27.
On Saturday, product manager of Holiday Packages by AfricaStay, Jacqui Carr, sent out a notification to agents saying: “Those who were due to travel on the Johannesburg to Zanzibar April 27 service may choose to still travel outbound but will need to rebook an alternative return carrier on their Zanzibar-Johannesburg leg. We continue to work through our bookings and will reach out to everyone. If your passengers, who are due to travel from Johannesburg to Zanzibar on April 27 prefer to cancel, please let us know so that we may ensure that they are not a no-show at the hotel. Thank you again for your patience. Our team is available during the course of the weekend on sales@holidaypackages.co.za or via our emergency details, as highlighted in TravelInfo.”
Ceo of Thompsons Holidays, Joanne Adolphe, confirmed that the Tuesday flight would still operate.
“They cannot carry anyone ex-Johannesburg with a return Mango ticket but they can carry passengers if they can show an onward or return journey on another airline,” said Joanne, adding that Thompsons Holidays had been working through their passenger lists to assist each client.
“We hope that Mango can survive this crisis. We are still actively promoting Zanzibar as a destination as there are various alternative ways to travel to the island,” she added.
Owner of Take Off Travel, Owain John¸ told Travel News that he was extremely disappointed at the news as Zanzibar was one of the country’s main markets at the moment. Even if the airline pulled through this, it had broken a lot of trust, added Owain.
As no re-accommodation policy had been forthcoming from Mango, Owain said his passengers who were due to fly out on Tuesday had opted to purchase a one-way ticket home to avoid losing out on other components of their package.
Mango operates a monopoly on the direct Johannesburg-Zanzibar route. While Owain acknowledged that Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Qatar Airways also connected South Africa with Zanzibar, he said the alternatives were all more expensive and involved a longer flying time than Mango had offered.
The outcome of the crisis for Mango is still unclear at the time of publishing this article. Agents and operators were all of the opinion that the Johannesburg-Zanzibar route was so popular that it would soon be snapped up by a competitor airline if slots could be obtained. If this did not occur, canvassed operators said they would also look into the viability of operating direct charter flights to the island.
It is also of interest to note that FlySafair chief marketing officer, Kirby Gordon, recently told Travel News that FlySafair had applied for traffic rights to Zanzibar but that the ASLC had advised that all traffic rights had already been allocated to other airlines at the time.
Director of Holiday Packages by AfricaStay, Marian Sandu, also expressed his disappointment at Mango’s current situation, especially at a time when the airline’s flights to Zanzibar were fully booked until early May. While Holiday Packages by AfricaStay’s priority is to assist passengers due to travel this week, Marian said the course of action for passengers travelling later in the year would become clear once the DPE announced a decision about the future of the airline. He confirmed that senior Mango officials had spent Friday in a meeting with the DPE and that an announcement was expected soon.
“If the airline goes into business rescue then clients can probably expect that they will receive credit vouchers for future travel when the airline resumes flight operations. I think that a liquidation is unlikely at this point but if this were to occur, clients would need to pursue charge-back claims with their banks where applicable,” said Marian.
