But the loss of appetite for flying happened long before that.
“We saw bookings go down by 25% about two months before Sunday’s announcement,” Van der Molen said. “That’s because people know now that new restrictions happen suddenly and they are looking down the road.”
CemAir operates eight aircraft, flying from Johannesburg to Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, George, Margate, Kimberley, Hoedspruit and Plettenberg Bay.
A report published in TimesLIVE on Friday stated incorrectly that FlySafair, Mango and Airlink would be the only domestic airlines operating from July 5 until the end of the month. The error — omitting CemAir — is regretted and has been corrected.
Both Comair — which operates Kulula and British Airways (BA) — and Lift airline announced that they will be suspending all scheduled flights for three weeks.
Kulula and BA flights are set to resume on July 30 “subject to regulations being eased and Covid-19 infection rates, particularly in Gauteng, being contained”, but Lift’s schedule is set to resume only on August 1.
FlySafair has opted to continue operating with a reduced schedule and Airlink has advised its customers that “even though leisure travel to Gauteng is not permitted, transiting through Gauteng to your final destination is permitted.”
Chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon told TimesLIVE, “We’ve had to make some changes to fit in with the 9pm curfew but the flights will still operate. “Businesses are still operating and people still need to get to funerals and the like, so there can’t be a complete suspension of domestic flights.”
The airline is offering penalty-free changes and full refunds to passengers’ FlySafair wallets for those who wish to cancel pre-booked flights — on all routes.
Lift has advised its customers with bookings during the suspension period to change or cancel them via their online “Manage my Booking” facility, without any penalty fees.
“You can rebook to fly before or on July…