Flight Centre advises against booking flights on SAA and Mango

Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group is advising its customers not to book on South African Airways (SAA) or Mango Airlines because of various limitations the airlines have put on their booking platforms.

SAA, for instance, is only showing flights for bookings in specific classes, while Mango is only showing flights two to three days ahead.

“We do not want our customers to be stranded nor to have confusion around their travel,” says Flight Centre product and marketing GM Sue Garrett.

“We are therefore advising travellers to look at alternative carriers and routings until there is clarity and communication directly from the airlines.”

The concern on the part of Flight Centre is based in part on Mango preventing ticket sales for future bookings on its online booking site. At the time of writing, tickets simply read as ‘sold out’ beyond June 20 on the system.

Meanwhile SAA, on its website, is reporting a suspension of all domestic and regional flights until July 31 this year and a suspension of international flights until October 30.

Despite speculations that Mango was set to halt operations from May 1 following its outstanding debt to Airports Company South Africa (Acsa), the airline managed to continue and operate scheduled flights. However, it is still unclear how much longer the airline will stay in the air.

Mango has not provided any further comment to Moneyweb.

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Palesa Mofokeng is a Moneyweb intern.