Travel News South Africa

TBCSA clarifies how the new curfew affects air travellers

Following the announcement of the new national curfew times, 11pm - 4am, the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) spoke to the minister of tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, to clarify how domestic flights and travellers may be affected.
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“Since the announcement made by the president on Monday, 14 December 2020, we saw an increase in flight cancellations due to fears of passengers being on the road during the curfew hours, however, we spoke to the minister of tourism and industry stakeholders to come to a conclusion that would not affect domestic flights," said Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of TBCSA.

"An agreement was reached for all travellers using flights to be allowed to be on the road during curfew times if their flights were delayed or if the flight arrives closer or later than curfew time. All they have to do is produce their boarding pass as proof should they be stopped by the police while completing their journey.”

Job losses, economic decline

The cancellation of flights locally will lead to massive job losses in the tourism sector and further decline to the economy, says the TBCSA. As much as the curfew will continue to impact the industry's revenues immensely, the council continues to encourage industry stakeholders to follow government guidance, regulations, and protocols.

“Now more than ever, collaboration across sectors is imperative to ensure flights domestically and locally continue. In doing so, we will save countless jobs and assist the economy to move towards an upwards trajectory. We encourage domestic travellers and airliners not to cancel their flights, aimed at avoiding curfew, so we can continue to save the tourism sector,” concluded Tshivhengwa.

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