South African airways abandoned its customers in Cairo and attempted to profiteer out of their turmoil.
My Dad arrived at the airport and couldn't get any information from check in staff about his flight. I called South African airways in the UK here and was advised that his flight had been cancelled and they would not transfer him to another flight even though there were seats available. They offered to provide a refund for his flight and to book him on another South African Airways flight to J'berg. The refund was £350 - the new flight was £2000!
The flight was cancelled because of the curfew but most other airlines were changing their flight times to accommodate the curfew or putting passengers on other flights. Basically, I said it was the airline's decision to cancel the flight rather than reschedule, and they had an obligation to put him on the next available flight - especially given the instability and travel warnings that exist for the country. I have never come across an airline that cancels a flight and then tells its customers it has to pay to get on another flight. South African Airways said the airline couldn't wear the increased cost. They were willing to leave him in Cairo with the current warnings and dangers!. Unbelievable... So basically South African Airways is willing to abandon its customers in a country that has been deamed so dangerous that consular staff are evacuating and special flights are being sent in to retreive staff. South African Airline was also using the unrest to profiteer. Quite phenomenal.
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