THE SA travel trade is
frustrated by its inability
to reach Air China’s sales
representative in South
Africa.
Alet Steyn, gm of Wendy
Wu Tours in South Africa
(China specialists), says the
operator has tried various
avenues in South Africa to
make contact with Air China
but has been unsuccessful.
“It seems there is no local
representation for the
airline in South Africa. We
have now consulted with
our head office in the UK to
assist us in getting in touch
with the airline.” Wendy
Wu currently uses Cathay
Pacific and Singapore
Airlines to get clients to
China.
Another tour operator
who books travel to
China and who wanted to
remain anonymous, said
it had received calls from
frustrated agents who were
unsure how to get in touch
with Air China. “‘Where is
Air China’s rep in South
Africa?’ they all ask.” This
operator said it could see
that Air China was seldom
booked by local agents.
Another concern for
agents is the poor
connection options
from cities outside
Johannesburg.
One agent told TNW
that the earliest flights
to Johannesburg from
Cape Town, Durban,
Bloemfontein, East London
or Port Elizabeth, left very
little time to connect if
passengers were hoping to
catch flight CA868, which
departed at 08h55.
She further pointed out
that Air China did not offer
STPC, meaning travellers
would have to absorb the
cost of accommodation if
they chose to catch a flight
the day before.
While Keith Gow, md of
Gateway Travel and Tours,
agreed that the connecting
times to Johannesburg
were tight, he said this
would not affect the bulk
of the route’s traffic,
which consisted primarily
of Chinese travellers
who worked in Southern
Africa and were returning
home. “The bulk of
these travellers come
from Gauteng.” Air China
could not be reached for
comment.
Keith said the route had
been relatively successful
since its launch in October
but was still only serviced
three times a week. An
indication of greater
success would be if they
upped this to four, five or
six flights weekly, he said.
“The plan is to go daily,”
said Keith.
After initial teething
problems the route did
appear to be running
smoothly, said Terry
Fenton-Wells, md of SA
Magic Tours, which books
inbound travel from China
to South Africa.
She said demand for
travel to South Africa from
China had been extremely
high since the visa issue
was resolved in November.
While Bradley Brouwer,
Asia Pacific president of
SA Tourism, agreed that
the route was performing
well, he said it needed
more bookings from
South Africa to make the
flight more sustainable.
“If SA travel agencies
would support the flight
it would most definitely
support the sustainability
of the route.”
