
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has informed its clients that it will stop selling South African Airways (SAA) tickets.
Andrew Stark, FCTG MD for Middle East and Africa, said it was the first time that the company had to issue a stop-sell on SAA.
“Following mixed messages from the government about whether the airline will be bailed out and the decision from insurance companies to exclude SAA from their insolvency cover, we have had to make an immediate move to mitigate the risk to ourselves and our clients,” he told eTNW.
SAA, which hasn't made a profit since 2011 and is dependent on government bailouts to remain solvent, suffered a crippling strike this month which pushed it to the brink of collapse.
The strike and subsequent cancellation of bookings at South African Airways (SAA) resulted in a "sudden deterioration" of the national carriers' financial position, the department of public enterprises has said.