It’s been a slow trickle since airlines restarted domestic operations, and they need more from government in order to operate feasibly, said Chris Zweigenthal, ceo of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (Aasa) at a GBTA webinar on July 1.
“The airlines are operating domestically at less than 5% of what it would have been at this time last year,” said Chris. “It is therefore necessary,” he added, “for airlines to see an extension of essential business travel into leisure travel.”
Chris believes that the opening of leisure travel will cater for those desperately wanting to see the people they love in another province. And airlines need to fill their aircraft to survive. “Currently, business travellers are not providing the critical passenger numbers needed to make the flight viable.”
Aasa is also calling on government for relief for some of their operating costs. Chris says: “We’ve approached government in terms of looking at ways we can deal with user charges – which are either paid by the passenger or the airlines. Direct operating costs are a significant portion of costs. We’ve suggested the waiving, reduction or a hold on increases for those charges. Government is offering a deferment of charges and the problem with this is that the bill will come later. The only way airlines will be in a position to repay this is if revenues and traffic pick up.”
