FlySafair expands GDS offering

FLYSAFAIR expanded its
GDS offering last month,
bringing fares more in line
with those on its website.
The move has made selling
FlySafair easier, say agents.
Previously only high-yield
fares had been loaded in
the GDSs with the airline
saying that GDS costs were
too high to absorb for loweryield
fares.
Iqram Mohamed, travel
consultant at Thompsons
Travel, said he was selling
more FlySafair flights,
explaining that the price
difference between the
airline’s website and the
GDS was now negligible. He
said it was also much faster
for agents to book through
the GDSs on one booking
platform.
Kirby Gordon, head of
sales and distribution for
FlySafair, confirmed that the
uptake on the new fares
had been good, with a lot
of positive feedback coming
from agents about pricing
and service.
However, despite the
good uptake, Kirby is still
concerned about high GDS
distribution costs. “We
had hoped that we might
experience some economies
of scale but, unfortunately,
the results so far have not
been especially encouraging.
We’re continuing to look
at ways to reduce these
distribution costs, and
we’re positive that we have
some good options on the
table, but if we’re not able
to scrape together some
stronger savings, we will
need to up the entry fares in
the channel,” he said.
The airline adopted a
number of other agentfriendly
initiatives recently,
including signing preferred
agreements with both the
Flight Centre Travel Group
and the XL Travel Group.