FlySafair offers cheaper fares under own GDS code

FROM Friday, March 17,

FlySafair is live on both

Amadeus and Travelport

– offering more affordable

fares – under its own carrier

code, FA.

“It’s been a process getting

here, but we finally have

something that offers a solid,

reliable and competitive

option for the trade to

secure our inventory via their

preferred GDS,” says Kirby

Gordon, head of sales and

distribution of FlySafair.

The FA fares include a

checked bag of up to

23kg, priority boarding

and two changes without

penalty fees.

Since the end of November,

FlySafair’s inventory has

been available on the GDS

via a Hahn Air agreement

under the code H1. However,

the inventory was expensive

for the local market because

of a segment fee FlySafair

had to pay in order to be

integrated with the H1 code,

and this drove up the cost of

the fare considerably,

says Kirby.

However, under its own

code, FlySafair has a much

lower segment fee to pay to

the GDSs directly (as well as

a small percentage that is

added to take the payment),

Kirby explains.

He says it makes

sense for FlySafair to be

available under the Hahn

Air agreement as it gives

the airline access to many

international markets, which

means it can list on several

GDSs globally.