Airlines flying from Zim still accept card payments

DESPITE being advised to request
travellers flying from Zimbabwe to pay
for their tickets with hard cash, airlines
are still allowing passengers to pay by
credit or debit card.
According to media reports, airlines
have advised passengers travelling
from Zimbabwe to purchase their
tickets with hard cash. But three
airlines told TNW they were still
accepting card payments.
Kenya Airways marketing manager
for South Africa, Tracey King, said the
airline still accepted card and cash
payments when travellers purchased
tickets to and from Zimbabwe.
Similarly, SAA accepts payments in
US dollars, bond notes, Zimbabwean
credit cards, EFT, mobile money
transfers, debit cards and all
international credit cards. SAA
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, said: “This
is in compliance with the rules and
regulations as determined by the
Zimbabwean government.”
British Airways Comair also confirmed
that passengers travelling from South
Africa to Zimbabwe could still pay with
credit and debit cards, although the
situation in Zimbabwe is different.
Brian Kitchin, executive manager
of sales for Comair explained: “In
Zimbabwe, MasterCard and Visa cards
need to be loaded with money, not
bond notes, and then these cards can
be used to make online or international
payments.”
An airline industry expert said if
airlines did request customers to
purchase tickets with hard cash, it was
because government had put a cap
on foreign currency, making it difficult
for airlines to recover the money spent
on the air ticket. “The Zimbabwean
government used to pay airlines back
in foreign currency but now, because of
the ban, airlines are being reimbursed
in bond notes – which they can’t use,”
the expert said.
The expert added that airlines trading
and selling tickets in Zimbabwe needed
to cover their revenue. As a result of
the lack of foreign currency, airlines
were unable to recover that revenue,
which allowed them to pay their bills,
such as fuel and additional overheads.
An airline association is engaging with
the Zimbabwean Government, Central
Bank, Finance Minister and Treasury to
provide airlines with foreign currency.