CORPORATES travelling to
destinations previously
served by SA Express,
are having to pay up. The
relief schedule put together
by SAA, Mango and Airlink is
failing to fill all the gaps.
Corporate travellers are
paying more for flights
to Lumbumbashi in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo.
“As a result of SAX’s
grounding, clients are having
to use alternative routes at
a greater cost,” says Mary
Shilleto, ceo of Thompsons
Travel. She points out that
there are connections to
Lumbumbashi on Kenya
Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines,
but these are between
R2 000 and R4 000 more
expensive. “Corporates have
to go via these hubs, which
is more costly and they
have not budgeted for these
increases.”
SAA, Mango and Airlink
are not licensed to fly into
Lumbumbashi.
Rodger Foster, ceo and md
of SA Airlink, told TNW that
the airline does not have
its sights on Lumbumbashi,
explaining that SAA’s aircraft
is better suited to the route.
However, TNW understands
that SAA cannot get a license
for Lumbumbashi and does
not have spare aircraft to
service the route. SAA had
not responded to a query
in this regard at the time of
publishing.
There are also currently no
flights to Mmabatho, forcing
clients to travel by car, one
travel agent said.
Airlink steps up
Meanwhile, Airlink has added
more domestic and regional
flights to its network and
schedule to accommodate
passengers on some of the
routes previously operated by
SA Express.
“Many SAX customers
have experienced itinerary
disruption, and Airlink has
worked around the clock since
May 24 to introduce flights to
alleviate the inconvenience,”
the airline said.
Up to 46 additional daily
flights have been introduced
on various routes, including:
Johannesburg - Bloemfontein;
Johannesburg - Kimberley;
Johannesburg - Hoedspruit;
Johannesburg - Gaborone;
Johannesburg - Richards Bay;
Johannesburg - Walvis Bay;
Cape Town - Port Elizabeth;
Cape Town - Hoedspruit;
Cape Town - East London; and
Durban - East London.
Rodger told TNW that, at
this point, it is unclear for
how long the airline will
service these routes. “SAX
is working hard to recover.
We don’t know how long this
process might take and so it
is difficult for us to confirm
the permanency of the
service. At this point we don’t
aim to add further SAX routes
to our network. We will focus
on these 46 as operating
them is economically viable
for us.”
