Southern Africa’s Travel News Weekly
January 20 2010 I No. 2090
TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY
INSIDE
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News
december holiday season Better than expected in Cape
feature
agentzone
Back on the safari circiut
Job satisfaction shines through
naked agent
Victoria falls
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Acsa slated for ‘crazy’ hike Melody Brandon
A
IRLINES expect a draft decision to be released soon from the Independent Economic Regulator on Acsa’s proposed 133% tariff increase, a move considered to be a threat to air travel in the country. Acsa fees, including passenger charge, landing fees and rentals, amount to R81 per passenger. Should Acsa’s application be granted, this would rise to over R185 per person per single trip. The proposed hike has caused a furore with Iata announcing recently it had added Acsa to the air transport industry’s ‘hall of shame’ for the proposed fee increase. “This is just in time to greet all of the visitors who will be coming to the next Soccer World Cup,” says Iata dg and ceo, Giovanni Bisignani. Airline representatives agree that Acsa’s early implementation of the new charges are indeed aimed at catching some of the 2010 World Cup traffic. In a note to the Tourism Ministry, airline representatives says they believed the hike was an “attempt to improve the visitor and media perception of the country through grand and impressive ports of entry and to provide capacity for a single event with
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a duration of one month at the expense of airlines as the majority of the cost increases are in the form of increases to the airlines themselves”. Highlighting what they call “a widely publicised smoke screen”, airlines say the increased user fees and taxes, which are levied on airlines operating to and from South Africa rather than passed on directly to the passenger by Acsa, allow the organisation to “show in rand terms that the passenger contribution to Acsa is only a fraction of the real cost”. The note alleges that people are often told that Acsa charges (shown as tax on the ticket) are “minuscule in comparison to the airline fees and surcharges”, but this is “not reality”. According to the note, “the true cost of what airlines pay to Acsa forms part of the ticket price” and is hence in any case passed on to the passenger, who can choose not to fly with a carrier they believe is overcharging and to fly with a carrier that is “subsidised to counter the effects of the increased cost of doing business”. Iata hit out at Acsa last year (see TNW November 4) over the proposed increase, warning it would further damage an industry buckling under financial pressure. Aasa (Airlines Association of Southern Africa) has too added its voice. Acsa executive
finance director, Priscillah Mabelane, and Comair cfo, Aasa member, Yasas Sri-Chandana, were embroiled in a public war of words over the proposed hike. Priscillah argued that the proposed increase would enable the company to reward its investors adequately for their investments. She said the company had previously warned the Independent Economic Regulator it would need to prefund its R19bn infrastructure development, resulting in steep increases. “Like Eskom, Acsa is calling on users of its airports to fund its financial shortfall. For the past few years Acsa has made profit margins of over 24% and has paid billions of rands worth of dividends to its shareholders,” Yasas retorted. “When you consider a low-cost flight between Johannesburg and Durban costs on average R300, Acsa charges will make up more than half the cost of a ticket.” 1time ceo, Rodney James, says the proposed increase is crazy. “Increasing tariffs by 133% to adequately reward its investors is not enough reason to stifle the recovery of domestic air travel in South Africa. What a fantastic business. A captive market and you can turn on the profit tap whenever you feel like it!” To page 12
Free to download Etihad has launched a new iPhone application for its loyalty programme members, billed as “the first application of its kind to offer real-time loyalty points redemption for its users”. The application, available free to download and use from the Apple iPhone store, will provide Etihad Guest members with a user-friendly tool designed to assist them manage their accounts and stay informed about the latest Etihad Guest promotions. Members can redeem their points immediately, check the latest partner promotions and view their account information. Going mobile is Etihad Airways country manager Craig Thomas (pictured here) Photo: Tijana Huysamen
Four weekly for MH Natalia Thomson MALAYSIA Airlines will launch two new weekly non-stop flights from Johannesburg to Kuala Lumpur from March 30,
bringing to four the number of flights per week the carrier will operate from South Africa. Departing 13h40, with arrivals in Kuala Lumpur at To page 12