Cape Town – Down but not out. That’s the message from embattled low-cost carrier Skywise, which promised disgruntled passengers that they will be back to offer a much better flying service.
Skywise co-chair Tabassum Qadir said in a statement on Thursday that they want to win back trust and confidence from customers and the travel industry when the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) allows them to operate again.
Acsa grounded the airline over unpaid airport fees during its peak season on Wednesday, which Skywise said will affect 8 000 passengers that booked to fly with them over the festive season.
Acsa said the suspension will be withdrawn as soon as Skywise has made appropriate payments for unpaid airport charges for landing, take off, parking of aircraft and related service charges in accordance with the relevant regulations. By late morning on Thursday the situation remained the same.
The grounding will affect 200 employees, who will now be “jobless”, Skywise said in an open letter to President Jacob Zuma, appealing for his intervention.
Qadir's co-chair Javed Malik told Fin24 on Thursday now is not the time for competition, but for all the role players in the South African aviation industry to work together.
"This is not about Skywise, but about everyone trying to bring innovation in SA's aviation industry. Don't treat Skywise as an individual company. Any decision relating to Skywise will affect all of SA," Malik said.
READ: A hit on Skywise, a hit on SA, says co-chair Javed Malik
Qadir said Skywise has highly inconvenienced its customers, "but we promise them that we will be back to offer a much better flying service”.
“We look forward to (our customers’) continued support once we bounce back and promise to offer them the affordable air fares and customer service they had known,” Skywise said.
During Wednesday's dramatic day, Qadir gave Fin24 an exclusive interview, in which she questioned Acsa's move.
"How can they do this to us in December, the busiest time in the industry? Now was our time to make money and they notify us 17:00 last night (Tuesday) to say we have been suspended," she said.
"Before the deadline I sent a letter asking for an extension. I was doing an acquisition, which could have been completed at the time so I only asked for a little more time.
"Why do they keep killing airlines? Every business takes six to eight months to break even. I have no institutional help. I cannot figure out what the reason can be for nobody wanting to help," said Qadir.
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