More airlines cancel domestic flights during Covid-19 lockdown

SAA and FlySafair have joined Comair in announcing the cancellation of domestic flights for the duration of the national Covid-19 lockdown.

The cancellations will take effect when the lockdown kicks in on Thursday at midnight.

In a statement, FlySafair said it made the decision "in solidarity by putting South Africa’s health and public interest first".

Flights would be back online on the morning of April 20 following a government lifting of the lockdown.

"We started FlySafair on October 16 2014 and have flown every day since. We never envisaged a circumstance that would have to halt operations," said Kirby Gordon, FlySafair chief marketing officer.

"Globally, we are in unprecedented times. We believe that the decision taken by our president is the correct one and we are fully supportive of all efforts undertaken to curb the spread of this virus in our country."

FlySafair said they would offer penalty-free changes to alternative dates, either before or after the lockdown, for anyone who had already booked their flights. Anyone seeking refunds must exchange their reservations to a flight voucher. All eligible bookings will then later be assessed to and converted to cash if requested.

Embattled national carrier SAA also said on Tuesday that it was suspending domestic flights. The airline said it would resume domestic flights on April 17.

This follows after it suspended international and African flights last week until May 31.

Earlier on Tuesday, Comair said it would suspend all domestic flights on its kulula.com and British Airways routes.