Press Pages SA airline’s daring new move and how it will benefit other airlines

Low-cost carrier FlySafair is at it again, and its new move is bound to shake up the travel industry.

Now, travellers can book flights operated by other airlines on routes that the company doesn’t operate via the FlySafair website.

The airlines include CemAir and Fastjet for flights on the Johannesburg-Bloemfontein and Cape Town-George routes.

"To develop this capability for Online Travel Agency (OTA) flight sales, FlySafair partnered with local travel technology company Tripco, best known for its LekkeSlaap booking platform," said Kirby Gordon, the chief marketing officer at FlySafair.

Gordon said the airline hoped to add additional flights and routes on its website soon.

He said the airline was constantly seeking innovative ways to boost its offering, calling its new move a game-changer.

“This benefits our passengers and the other airlines. We have already seen sales coming through for third-party airlines this week and we have plans to load more flights operated by more airlines on more routes down the line too,” he said.

Customers will be notified about which airline will operate their selected flight, and the small service fee charged.

"Call centres are in place to service any booking amendments to any flights, regardless of the carrier chosen," he added.

Tripco executive director Marcel van de Ghinste said the move benefited FlySafair, Tripco, the customer and other airlines.

CemAir chief executives Miles van der Molen said they were excited to work with FlySafair.

“It is certainly a very different approach for an airline to position itself as a flight OTA as well as an airline. We are very pleased to be working with FlySafair and to benefit from exposure on its well-known website. We believe that this platform may have a lot of potential for selling multi-sector regional flights within Southern Africa,” she said.

COO of Fastjet Donahue Cotes said it would help helps the post-Covid passenger.

“As travel trends evolve with the increasing use of online channels, Fastjet acknowledges the enhanced digital innovation recently introduced by FlySafair, which expands selling flights on Fastjet and other airlines," said Cotes.