FlySafair in the crosshairs

FlySafair’s claim that all South African airlines overbook to the extent that they do is false.
This is according to CemAir CEO Miles van der Molen, who told BizNews that the practice is illegal in South Africa.
“Our reading of the Consumer Protection Act is that overbooking is illegal in South Africa, and we certainly don’t do it.”
“Airlink has issued a similar statement to ours, saying that they don’t overbook either, so for FlySafair to claim that is very improper.”
Van der Molen explained that airlines overbook flights based on an expected number of people that will not pitch, say 3%, to ensure the aircraft departs full and make additional revenue.
He explained that Lift, for example, offers a far more flexible service, allowing users to change their flights more easily. As a result, Lift will have a higher churn rate.
However, Van der Molen said FlySafair’s business model functions differently.
“My understanding of FlySafair’s model is that it’s 100% no-show, so they are effectively selling the seat twice. This means that if you don’t arrive for your flight, there is no refund available,” he said.
“They retain that revenue from customers not arriving and then oversell the flight.”
Revenue earned by companies through customers not redeeming prepaid services, such as flights or mobile data, is known as breakage, and FlySafair argues that it keeps its flights affordable.
“If we didn’t do it as an industry, it would ultimately impact upon fares, and you’d probably find that the leniency in terms of those rules around missing a flight would be dropped,” FlySafair chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon recently explained.
“In our instance, if you genuinely miss a flight and you arrive at the airport because you were stuck in traffic or whatever the case may be, even though that seat departed without you, we have the opportunity to put another person on that flight.”
Gordon said that because of how the system works, they can afford customers some leniency by trying to get them on the next available flight at a discount.
In the case of getting bumped from a flight due to overbooking, Gordon said that passengers are immediately paid R1,000 cash for the inconvenience before being rebooked on the next available flight.

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) announced an investigation into overbookings following an incident in early January 2025.
However, Gordon said that FlySafair is not too fazed by the watchdog’s inquiry.
FlySafair believes the practice is legal, which contradicts CemAir’s understanding of the legislation.
“Our terms and conditions and all policies are developed in conjunction with strict legal counsel. It is a very common practice in aviation across the world, but not only aviation. You see the same in the space of car rentals and hotels,” said Gordon.
“The Consumer Protection Act has a specific section that deals with the particulars pertaining to this.”
He noted that FlySafair adheres to the regulations provided in the Consumer Protection Act, adding that the airline’s overbooking practice is conservative compared to other airlines.
Aviation analyst Guy Leitch said overbooking isn’t just done by FlySafair. He also alluded to a specific section in the Consumer Protection Act with provisions for the practice.
“Overbooking is, in fact, not just FlySafair’s problem; it’s a worldwide problem. On a typical flight, let’s say there are 183 seats; inevitably, two or three people aren’t going to make it,” said Leitch.
“So, during peak times, it makes sense, financially and practically, for airlines to sell 185, maybe 186 seats, out of the 183 available.”
He said overbooking was done to account for scenarios where not everyone arrives for the flight. Many airlines will offer cash incentives to passengers not in a hurry to take the flight.