Airlink, SAA agree to transfer ticket revenue, reissue
Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has announced it has reached an agreement with South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) to reissue tickets sold by the flag carrier after December 6, 2019, for travel on Airlink's flights.
Airlink will reissue all tickets under its own stock, using the 749 flight ticket code, although it warned passengers that the process may take some time. The timing of the reissue, estimated to last for "the next few weeks", will depend on the transfer of ticket revenue from SAA to Airlink. Following the reissue of tickets, passengers will be able to rebook their flights affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The re-accommodation agreement will allow the transfer of the ticket sale revenue together with liability for service delivery to Airlink. Therefore until the re-accommodations have been affected, Airlink cannot arrange re-bookings as the ticket sale revenue is in SAA's possession," Airlink said.
Airlink will reissue all tickets under its own stock, using the 749 flight ticket code, although it warned passengers that the process may take some time. The timing of the reissue, estimated to last for "the next few weeks", will depend on the transfer of ticket revenue from SAA to Airlink. Following the reissue of tickets, passengers will be able to rebook their flights affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The re-accommodation agreement will allow the transfer of the ticket sale revenue together with liability for service delivery to Airlink. Therefore until the re-accommodations have been affected, Airlink cannot arrange re-bookings as the ticket sale revenue is in SAA's possession," Airlink said.
Airlink has been trying to recover its funds from SAA for the last few months after the flag carrier notified it in November 2019. State-owned SAA said at the time that it was unable to transfer funds derived from tickets redeemed on Airlink flights in the preceding weeks, as it had used the money for its own working capital. In March, the High Court in Johannesburg denied Airlink's motion to recover its funds from SAA although Airlink has since appealed the verdict.
In January, Airlink notified SAA of its intention to end the franchise agreement on June 10, 2020, after which it will operate under its own 4Z flight designator and ticketing code.
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