More than 1,000 people who have paid for Zanzibar getaways have had their plans disrupted by package holiday operator AfricaStay’s four-week suspension of its twice-weekly charter service to the island.
Announced at the weekend, the suspension affects all package holidays departing from Johannesburg until July 16.
Comair’s suspension of its operations on May 31, followed by its liquidation announcement the following week, had AfricaStay scrambling to find another plane to accommodate its booked passengers, the company’s director Marian Sandu told Sunday Times Daily.
The company had been chartering an aircraft from Global Airways since September last year, but in mid-May that plane had to be taken out of service to attend to a technical issue.
It was then that AfricaStay signed an agreement with Comair to lease a 174-seater Airbus until the global plane was returned on July 12, ahead of resuming its Zanzibar holidays on July 16.
Comair’s collapse left AfricaStay scrambling to find replacement flights, to no avail.
“We spoke to every airline,” Sandu said. “None of them had suitable aircraft for us.
“We can’t send a small aircraft to Zanzibar. The cost would be too high for passengers.”
There is a chance one airline would be able to spare a plane for AfricaStay’s Zanzibar flight on Saturdays, Sandu said. He opted not to name it for fear of scuppering negotiations.
In the meantime, Global, which operates Lift airline, made a plane available to AfricaStay to operate two night-time “repatriation” flights — one last Saturday night and one on Tuesday night so as not to leave its customers stranded in Zanzibar.
Some customers — 130 out of the 174 booked — chose to fly to Zanzibar on Saturday’s flight, returning on either Kenya Airways or Ethiopian Airlines, which both operate non-direct flights to SA. But they had to pay extra for the trip.
Gareth Browne of Cape Town, along with his partner and three friends, were due to fly to Zanzibar with AfricaStay on June 28 to celebrate his birthday. They each paid R10,000 on average for flights, their accommodation and meals at the Paradise Beach Resort.
“It’s frustrating that we found out about the suspension via a Facebook post and had to contact AfricaStay for more information,” Browne said.
“The company has since told us that they have cancelled our booking and we have been asked to fill out a refund form, but they have not said what sort of refund we can expect.”
Despite taking out travel insurance, Browne said: “We will lose our hotel accommodation in Joburg and connecting flights from Cape Town to Joburg, which amounts to about R3,000 per person, because the insurer said they do not cover cancellation by carrier or travel supplier.
“We thought we had done everything possible to cover ourselves by using a travel agent and taking out insurance. It’s been a very expensive lesson for us,” Browne said.
Sandu said he understood some passengers felt let down by not being contacted personally about the suspension, but the company’s priority had been to get in touch with those customers who were due to depart the soonest.
Affected AfricaStay customers had several options, he said:
- Postponing their trip until after July 16
- A full credit for flights, with re-accommodation on either Kenya Airways or Ethiopian Airlines, at an extra cost of about R2000
- A refund for the whole package in full for flights and a majority refund from their chosen hotel
- A voucher for the full amount paid, valid for three years
“We are negotiating with the hotels about full refunds, but unfortunately we can’t control their decisions,” Sandu said.
Once weekly flights — on Saturdays — are set to resume from July 16 and continue until September 17, when the service will increase to two flights per week — Tuesdays and Saturdays.
