Cape Town - The abrupt grounding of Skywise airlines on Wednesday solicited mixed responses from Fin24 users with some saying they expected it and others siding with the carrier.
Skywise owes the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) and ATNS R8bn for services including landing, take off, parking of aircraft and related service charges in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Acsa said the suspension would be withdrawn as soon as Skywise made the appropriate payments.
Skywise said the suspension would affect 8 000 passengers that booked to fly with them over the festive season.
Fin24 user Willem S who works for a SA-based travel agency said his company was constantly warning people not to book with low cost airlines like Skywise and FlyAfrica.
"These airlines have been having a lot of issues lately and if people had consulted their travel agents they would have known about it and would have been warned. However, people go online and book their flights and now cannot get help. This is why we as travel agents exist. To assist and advise.
"I feel for the people that have booked on Skywise, but I urge everyone affected to use their travel agents next time they travel, so that we can assist them when things go wrong.
"Peace of mind may cost more, but it is worth every cent."
Fin24 user Clive Pretorius who works for a competing airline said tickets were paid upfront for the "planned bumper holiday season". "Where is this revenue and why not settle the bill," he asks.
On the other side of the coin Fin24 user Rowan Torr said one of the problems in the SA aviation industry is the monopoly Acsa has.
"The state cannot afford three national carriers but continues to throw money at a dead horse. Solution: open the skies and see this economy grow. Allow Emirates and Etihad to operate on domestic routes with international connections - a point-to-point not hub-to-hub. Let's not be silly and see this saga go on for years to come," he said.
Fin24 user Errol Gertzen blamed the suspension on unfair competition, alleging that SAA, which is in the red, now needs December to improve revenue. "It's dog eat dog," he said.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on Fin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.