SA EXPRESS is making
good news.
The airline resumed
its Cape Town flights to
Bloemfontein and Walvis
Bay on January 12 and 13,
saying this showed the
significant progress SAX
had made in terms of the
implementation of its new
business strategies.
“Instead of trying to be
everything to everyone,
we have adopted a new
pragmatic model in the way
we select our routes, so
that, in the end, we only
relaunch those routes that
can be sustained,” says
Siza Mzimela, interim ceo.
The airline is also making
strides to overcome its
financial troubles, confident
that it will break even by the
end of the current financial
year, says Madikwe
Mabotha, SAX head of
Communications and PR.
Madikwe said as much
during a recent interview on
Radio 702.
“We are very excited about
this relaunch in Cape Town,”
he said. “Remember, we
have been using only OR
Tambo as our base. We
closed the Durban base
[and] we closed the George
base because we are really
trying to look at ways of
doing it differently so that
we don’t spread ourselves
thin.”
Madikwe also said
the airline’s turnaround
intervention was well ahead
of schedule. “We have 10 of
our aircraft certified by the
CAA (Civil Aviation Authority
as worthy to operate. We
are operating 10 regional
and local routes, including
Botswana, Gaborone, Walvis
Bay, Namibia, Lubumbashi,
Bloem, PE and so on.”
Update on refunds
The airline has confirmed
to TNW that it has
processed more than 90%
of the refunds relating to its
grounding in May last year
by the SACAA.
The outstanding refunds
may be the result of
multiple factors, some of
which are outside SAX’s
control, says Madikwe.
This includes tickets
purchased where the
issuing carrier is a foreign
airline, meaning SAX cannot
issue the refund for that
ticket; and passengers who
may have used a cheque
card to pay for the ticket,
in which case additional
information would be
required before the refund
could be processed, among
other issues.
Agents who have
queries regarding refunds
should contact the airline
directly at charris@
flyexpress.aero.
