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Airlink-SAA deal 'unfair'

Private airline Airlink is taking over a number of routes that state-owned airline SAA has dropped.

It is also eyeing another route currently allocated to another state-owned airline, SA Express.

SAA has a stake of less than 3% in Airlink. They have a franchise agreement, which has been in place for over two decades.

One Airlink competitor, who spoke to City Press on condition of anonymity, said: “SAA is helping Airlink build a monopoly because they get preferential treatment. Other airlines can’t grow and even new entrants won’t survive.”

Another source, who is privy to the process for route applications, said the franchise agreement which Airlink had with SAA gave it an unfair advantage that almost blocked the market.

The agreement allows Airlink to share SAA’s flight booking platform.

However, the same source said Airlink was simply taking advantage of a loophole in the system that SAA had created.

SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said Airlink was the only South African airline that had been granted the International Air Transport Association’s (Iata’s) operational safety accreditation.

Tlali said SAA’s route changes had resulted in Johannesburg to Brazzaville flights being suspended until further notice.

The Johannesburg to Libreville, Johannesburg to Douala, and Johannesburg to Cotonou routes were all operating on a revised schedule, with reductions in frequency where necessary, he said.

He denied claims that SAA had relinquished routes to Airlink.

Airlink CEO Rodger Foster confirmed that the company had applied for the Johannesburg to Windhoek route, currently held by SA Express, as well as for the Cotonou and Moroni (Comoros) routes.

He said the company already had approvals for flights to Brazzaville, Luanda and Libreville. Luanda was being accessed from Cape Town, but Airlink was not yet operating on these routes.

Foster dismissed reports that the company was readying itself to take over more SAA routes by buying a fleet of 20 new aircraft.

“We didn’t buy any new aircraft. What we have is a succession plan for our planes until 2020 and, during this period, we are going to replace 12 of our planes with better ones.”

Foster said the reason Airlink had been included on SAA’s booking system was because the two companies had a franchise agreement that enabled it to use the code Iata had allocated to SAA.

This means that all Airlink flights are hosted on the SAA code and that all the administrative work is carried out in accordance with this franchise agreement.

“It seems that someone is unhappy about Airlink’s longstanding franchise relationship with SAA as being advantageous to Airlink, to the disadvantage of other private airlines.”

He said the arrangement was beneficial to both parties.

“The Comair franchise relationship with British Airways is very similar to the one between Airlink and SAA.

"Such relationships are in place throughout the world and are available to any other private airline that wants to forge such a commercial relationship with any relevant international strategic partner, on a willing party basis,” he said.

Airlink already held the rights to the route to St Helena, from both Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Foster said the air services agreement between the UK and South Africa was an open sky one, and any interested airline could apply for traffic rights.

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