Domestic airline FlySafair has been the subject of debate on Twitter over its flight prices. Tweeps were not happy with the pricing - with some saying it does not encourage local travel.
What tweeps are saying:
@FlySafair your price hike for flights this week is unreasonable. So much for encoraging local travel.
— Kim Davids (@KimDavids5) September 20, 2020
User @KimDavids5 said the prices did not encourage local travel. “@FlySafair your price hike for flights this week is unreasonable. So much for encoraging local travel.” (sic)
When did that start. I've been using your flights since you started business. Your pricing is unfair to us users. I have never paid more than R1100 except for after Covid when I paid R1400.00. The only time your prices have rocketed to this is after Covid. No marn you're abusive
— 🇿🇦Mzu Yeko (@Gudsile) September 20, 2020
User @Gudsile was troubled with the high cost of a single trip. He tweeted: “@FlySafair how did we get to a flight that cost R2619.00 from East London to Jo'burg? A single trip?” of which the airline replied that the prices were “demand based”. (sic)
The airline said they used a system called demand-based pricing. “What this means is that the first seat that sells on a flight always goes for the lowest price. As seats sell on a flight the price rises from about R599 to R 2800. The key is to book those seats first. -EM,” the airline responded. (sic).
@Gudsile called the pricing “unfair to us users.”
He responded: “I have never paid more than R1100 except for after Covid when I paid R1400.00. The only time your prices have rocketed to this is after Covid. No marn you're abusive.” (sic)
@Gudsile wanted The Competition Commission to investigate the matter.
Another user @@__Ayabulela asked for other airlines to operate. She tweeted: “When will all airlines in SA operate again? Flysafair usuke waphapha with their prices.” (sic).
When will all airlines in SA operate again? Flysafair usuke waphapha with their prices.
— LALA (@__Ayabulela) September 19, 2020
FlySafair’s response:
The airline exclusively shared the reason for their flight pricing.
The airline’s chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon told IOL Travel that airfares are set by the market forces of supply and demand.
"We are what economists call 'price-takers'. When demand for seats is low, and supply is plentiful, we can barely give seats away. In those times we sell seats at very low, loss-making, prices and hope that we can try and counter some of the losses on operating costs.
“At other times, when demand is high and supply is moderate, prices will increase. This dynamic is true across all air travel tickets worldwide. It is part of what makes aviation such a tricky business to make money in.
"I took a look at the average price of a ticket for September this year versus prices for September last year. September 2020 is just over 6% more expensive, which is to be expected as inflation," he said.
Gordon said post-Covid bookings differed from pre-Covid bookings in that "they are more last-minute than before".
"In airline terms, it means that we are experiencing an incredibly short booking curve at the moment. It’s understandable given all the uncertainty that consumer behaviour would shift in this way, but we also know that flight prices rise closer to departure time.
“For example, this coming weekend is a long weekend, that is if you take the Friday off. It’s the first long weekend in Level 1, and we can see that demand is incredibly high. If I apply the standard booking curve to the timing of these tweets, it most likely that these folks are looking at flights for the long weekend. However, it’s far too late to hope to score a bargain fare before such a popular time," he explained.