quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
The only problem with SAA was the New South Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDL:
People will hesitate to book flights for fear of losing their money

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Blue Devil:

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDL:
People will hesitate to book flights for fear of losing their money

Hesitate.....no hesitation here, because I will not book a flight on SAA or Air Namibia.

What a mess that would be. Show up at the airport and your flight is cancelled,...and the flights for next 7 days are also cancelled.


I've been burned by Air Namibia twice by moving flights up. In both cases the flights were not cancelled, but left much earlier than planned.

Once in the Caprivi I had an Air Namibia flight from Katima Mulilo to Windhoek. However Air Namibia moved my 4PM flight up to 1PM,.....WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE!!!!!! We get to the big Katima Mulilo airport early, about 2:30PM. At about 3PM Air Namibia sends someone over to the airport to tell about 10 pissed off travelers that the 4PM flight left at 1PM. And the amazing part is, they said it,.... like it was a completely normal thing. As if the 4PM flight time listed our tickets meant nothing. They also did not have a flight the next day. So I was delayed by 2 days.

The very next year we lost a day of hunting because Air Namibia moved our 9PM flight to Frankfurt up to 6AM the same day. On that occasion they contacted our travel agent to let us know the flight was leaving 15 HOURS earlier than planned. That was the last flight that I ever booked (or ever will book) with Air Namibia.

quote:

Airlink, Africa’s largest privately-owned airline, will operate under its own “4Z” flight code on services operated with effect from 11 June 2020. This decision represents an important milestone in extending the commercial reach of the airline in its own right.

Selling seats on flights under the “4Z” flight code will enable Airlink to develop more routes and frequencies on an independent basis, as well as extend opportunities to establish new agreements with leading international airlines.

Airlink and South African Airways (SAA) have redefined their partnership by replacing their franchise agreement with a new commercial arrangement from 11 June 2020.

Where in terms of the franchise, flights operated by Airlink carry the “SA8” flight designator, under the new commercial arrangement, they will operate as Airlink’s unique “4Z” code. The new agreement will enable a seamless transition with minimum inconvenience to customers.

The change marks a new era in the long-standing commercial agreement with SAA. While SAA remains an important strategic pillar in Airlink’s strategy, the new arrangement gives Airlink the freedom to extend its commercial reach, develop more routes and frequencies on an independent basis and extend or establish additional agreements with other leading international airlines.

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About Airlink

Airlink is a privately-owned, BBBEE Level 4 business and regional feeder airline headquartered in Johannesburg. It has the largest fleet of commercial jetliners in Southern Africa, which operate on 55 routes to 39 destinations in nine African countries. Last year Airlink carried almost 2 million passengers on more than 63,000 flights, reliably, and on time (92.9% of Airlink’s flights were on time over the past year).

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
So, the question is what to do? If one needs to fly from Tambo to Windhoek, whatis the best advice ?

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Cross your fingers and have a backup plan. BA also services that route, so does Qatar Air.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
I guess the imposition of "handling fees" for firearms isn't working out as planned.

As discussed before, our flights last year were quoted with an extra $1,200 round trip for handling fees. We booked with Emirates instead. So instead of gaining the extra $1,200 in our case, they lost the entire tickets. I wonder how often that happened to them?

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
I guess the imposition of "handling fees" for firearms isn't working out as planned.

As discussed before, our flights last year were quoted with an extra $1,200 round trip for handling fees. We booked with Emirates instead. So instead of gaining the extra $1,200 in our case, they lost the entire tickets. I wonder how often that happened to them?

$1200 for how many guns?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
I guess the imposition of "handling fees" for firearms isn't working out as planned.

As discussed before, our flights last year were quoted with an extra $1,200 round trip for handling fees. We booked with Emirates instead. So instead of gaining the extra $1,200 in our case, they lost the entire tickets. I wonder how often that happened to them?

$1200 for how many guns?

Does it matter!

I rank them right up there with BA as airlines to avoid!

Last summer my daughter was booked to fly BA Lo don to Stockholm.

Flight was supposed to take off 9 in the morning.

She arrived at check in, and was informed the flight was cancelled!!

Next flight was 12 hours later!

I really think the Irishman running BA is secretly advising SAA!

The flying public would be better off once they two are busted!

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
I guess the imposition of "handling fees" for firearms isn't working out as planned.

As discussed before, our flights last year were quoted with an extra $1,200 round trip for handling fees. We booked with Emirates instead. So instead of gaining the extra $1,200 in our case, they lost the entire tickets. I wonder how often that happened to them?

$1200 for how many guns?

quote:

Originally posted by RogersGunWorks:
So what's a fellow to do? I want to go to SA to hunt but the ONLY flights from Atlanta to SA are on SAA. It looks like SAA, however bad or unsafe, is the only show in town when it comes to flying to SA from Atlanta. I hate to think I have to forego a SA hunting trip because SAA is such a poor airlines.

quote:

Originally posted by RogersGunWorks:
So what's a fellow to do? I want to go to SA to hunt but the ONLY flights from Atlanta to SA are on SAA. It looks like SAA, however bad or unsafe, is the only show in town when it comes to flying to SA from Atlanta. I hate to think I have to forego a SA hunting trip because SAA is such a poor airlines.

quote:

Originally posted by sdirks:
I'm headed to Zim this fall on Emirates. I've flown SAA several times previously-- with firearms-- with no trouble. The firearm handling fee was ridiculous, but even without it the Emirates ticket was several hundred US cheaper. SAA won't be getting my business again.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:

quote:

Originally posted by RogersGunWorks:
So what's a fellow to do? I want to go to SA to hunt but the ONLY flights from Atlanta to SA are on SAA. It looks like SAA, however bad or unsafe, is the only show in town when it comes to flying to SA from Atlanta. I hate to think I have to forego a SA hunting trip because SAA is such a poor airlines.

Delta!

quote:

Originally posted by Terry Blauwkamp:
Getting to Jo Berg is only half the "problem". What are those guys going to do that have booked hunts in the East Cape that require flights to Port Elizabeth or New London, as SAA is suspending all flights there as of March 1st, and there are no other airlines that will carry firearms.

Getting to Jo Berg is a matter of just using Delta if ya don't like SAA, but several other options are Emirates, Qatar, KLM, etc. just takes longer, but are usually cheaper.