GEORGE NEWS - Getting travel insurance seems to be the safest way for passengers to protect themselves in case of flight diversions, delays or cancellations. Until the instrument flight procedures for runway 11 at George Airport are approved, the risk of becoming a victim remains a reality.
"When a flight is diverted, we stomach all the costs for additional fuel, landing fees, and other services that we as a business face, and we do not pass these on to customers at all," said Kirby Gordon, FlySafair's chief marketing officer.
They do not, however, cover costs that customers may face as a result of these types of delays or diversions.
"We cover this off in the booking terms and conditions and the advice is to purchase travel insurance that would fulfil that gap," says Gordon.
Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) and Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said they do not have any financial responsibility towards passengers because their agreement is with the airlines.
"If you are travelling overseas via connecting flights, it's generally wise to book your whole trip with a single carrier who will book you connecting flights as part of an interline agreement.
"We have interline agreements with most of the major inbound international carriers. This way, if one of the flights on your journey is delayed or diverted, your whole journey will be protected by the airline that sold the ticket," said Gordon.
"If you prefer to book point-to-point flights, book conservatively to allow space between your flights – especially at the moment while these issues persist. Take the travel insurance option.
"Your credit card may give you some basic cover which you're possibly not conscious of, so you should check that out. The top-up services also offer various levels of cover for missing items, delays and various other topics."
On Tuesday 29 October, the head of corporate affairs and communications at ATNS, Mphilo Dlamini, said that they are still waiting for runway 11's flight procedures to be approved by South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).
"We are hopeful. Unfortunately, it is beyond our control as our regulator, SACAA, handles that process," said Dlamini.
SACAA has not responded to a query from George Herald about when or if this procedure will be approved.
Serious situation
The CEO of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA), Aaron Munetsi, said during their annual general meeting from 17 to 20 October that the recent withdrawal of instrument flight procedures at some airports is "almost unrecoverable" and that, in such situations, airlines have to resort to their survival instincts.
"We cannot over-emphasise the devastating impact of such occurrences."
He said that airlines bear the brunt of the costs by footing the bill for recovery, operating costs and fuel, and they need to rebuild the damage done to their customer experience.
"Passengers lose confidence in the airlines and in the destination, and they simply move to places where there is certainty," said Munetsi.
One AASA member reported 3 892 delays, 77 cancelled flights and 12 diversions between 19 July and 9 October, resulting in 63.25 days of cumulative delay time.
Munetzi emphasised that while they appreciate the good work done by the ministry of transport and the ATNS, the industry can only be reassured once they receive a firm timeline for when the flight procedures will be reinstated.
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