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1time passengers lash out

Cape Town - Fin24 was on Friday inundated with e-mails from frustrated 1time passengers who had pre-booked flights with the bankrupt low cost airline.

They wanted know if and how they would be compensated for their loss after 1time filed for liquidation and cancelled all flights with immediate effect.

One Fin24 user from PE said her family had R20 000 "locked up" in 1time pre-booked tickets.

Another just spent R9 500 on Friday morning, the same day of the announcement that 1time was bankrupt.

Sean Kennedy from Durban wrote: "Having spent just shy of R9 500, on our credit card budget THIS MORNING for flights for our family holiday to Cape Town in January, I was shaken when my wife told me the news of 1time's immediate demise at 15:00 - especially as I for one, had the faith that their mergers with Fresh Air of Zimbabwe showed immense promise and a positive future."

A frustrated Fransie Grobbelaar wrote: “I booked flights for me, my husband of 75 and my child.

"I used all my savings for these tickets to take my child to the South African Chess Championships in Cape Town in December. I don’t know what we will do now because I don’t’ have money to pay again."

In another e-mail to Fin24 Suhaifa Naidoo said she had 3 flights booked with 1time airlines for December.

"Fair enough, companies go bankrupt and stop their services, that's understandable. But not informing their existing clients who have purchased flights with them at least one month in advance is pathetic.

"They need to simply inform people on the process moving forward i.e how are we being refunded.

"That would cause a lot less panic and frustration."

Another Fin24 user, Heidi said she had a ticket booked for December and wanted to know what is going to happen. "Are we going to get our money back? I am a single parent just trying to fly my son home for the holidays. I don't have more money to fork out for another flight - this is ridiculous," she said in an e-mail.

Yolanda de Lange
from PE wrote: "When the announcement was first made that they were in trouble we contacted 1time as my husband commutes between PE and Jhb every weekend - we live in PE and he works in Jhb so that the children can complete their schooling.

"The CEO personally contacted my husband to assure him that his flights are safe and the matter will be sorted out.

"We have 9 return airtickets booked that we still are owed by 1time to the value of almost R20 000. This is going to affect our family life tremendously.

"How do you go forward in a world where this can happen and you just simply lose out as the consumer? Where does the Consumer Protection Act help us here? Or is it all just on paper."

Sarah Allen wrote: "What a nightmare at OR Tambo. I just heard one woman saying she paid R9 000 for a 1 way flight...
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