AfricaStay announced on Monday, June 20, that, after much effort, it has managed to come up with a solution, and its direct charter flights to Zanzibar will continue to run, uninterrupted.
The news came just one day after the tour operator announced it would have to temporarily suspend its direct charter flights to Zanzibar while the aircraft it chartered from Global Aviation went in for maintenance. The announcement of the suspension came after the operator had exhaustively searched for another aircraft.
Then it all turned around yesterday and AfricaStay suddenly announced it would charter an aircraft from FlySafair. The FlySafair aircraft that will be used has 185 seats, and flights will still be on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but these flights will be night flights.
The direct flights have a flying time of 3,5 hours, compared with around seven hours on the indirect flights.
Schedule
The schedule from this coming Saturday, June 25 (until the Global Aviation charter flights resume on July 16), will be:
The flight from JNB, SFR570, departs JNB at 20h15 on June 25, 28, July 2, 5, 9, 12. It arrives in Zanzibar at 00h40 on the following day.
The flight from ZNZ, SFR571, departs ZNZ at 01h40 on June 26, 29, July 3, 6, 10, 13. It arrives in Johannesburg at 04h24.
Check-in counters at JNB, Terminal B – 118-124. Check-in will open three hours prior to departure and close one hour prior to departure. Snacks (biltong, chips, sweets), tea, coffee, water and a selection of soft drinks, beer and wine will be available for sale on board. Luggage strictly at 20kg pp checked and 7kg pp carry on.
Options for affected pax
1)Travel on the FlySafair direct charter flight services – the cost for the new charter flights is more expensive and while AfricaStay has subsidised this, the following fares would apply:
R 3 000 per adult /child in economy class
R1 000 per infant in economy class not occupying a seat
or
2) AfricaStay will offer a credit, to the value of the charter flights booked, towards new return flights operated by an alternative scheduled carrier;
or
3) Postpone their booking and travel after July 16, 2022, subject to availability and seasonal surcharges may apply;
or
4) Cancel their vacation and receive a full refund on the air portion. We are negotiating with the hotels with regard to the accommodation portion;
or
5) receive an AfricaStay travel voucher for the current value of their holiday which will be valid for three years from the original travel date.
Marian Sandu, AfricaStay’s owner and CEO told Travel News that the company was fully committed to the direct Zanzibar charter flights and had already made a major investment of over R50m in Zanzibar charters. Sandu said AfricaStay had already flown more than 10 000 clients to Zanzibar since the Global Aviation charters began in September 2021.
