FlySafair continues scheduled flights despite facing overbooking tribunal case

One of South Africa’s most popular airlines, FlySafair, is facing scrutiny over its overbooking practices after the National Consumer Commission (NCC) referred the airline to the National Consumer Tribunal.

The case concerns flights allegedly overbooked between November 2024 and January 2025, with thousands of passengers reportedly affected.

Top Auto states that the NCC was drawn to the matter when a consumer reportedly purchased a ticket and, upon arrival to check in, was informed that no seats were available because the flight was overbooked. This was not the only complaint the NCC received. 

Despite the ongoing tribunal proceedings, FlySafair has reassured customers that all flights are operating as scheduled and that bookings remain unaffected.

In a statement, the airline said it is fully cooperating with the NCC’s referral to the tribunal and defended its actions, saying it acted “lawfully, transparently and in good faith, with due and careful regard to the rights of consumers.”

FlySafair also explained that overbooking is a common practice among airlines worldwide to account for passengers who do not show up for their flights.

"Overbooking is widely used by airlines globally as a mechanism to account for anticipated no-show passengers, improve operational efficiency and help keep air travel affordable," it said in the statement. 

The airline said the overbooking did not affect the majority of its customers. 

“During the period under review, more than 99.98% of FlySafair customers travelled successfully as booked,” the airline said.

It added that during the assessed period, approximately 5,000 customers were booked onto overbooked flights, but the majority were ultimately able to travel as planned because the expected no-shows did not arrive for their flights.

“As a result, only 0.02% of passengers were denied boarding and every one of them was offered re-accommodation, a refund, and compensation,” the airline stated.

The airline further noted that 93.3% of its flights departed on time during the review period and that no flights were cancelled due to overbooking.

FlySafair said it will continue engaging with the tribunal process while maintaining normal operations.

In the meantime, customers can be assured that operations will continue.

"FlySafair will continue to operate all scheduled flights as normal, and customer bookings remain unaffected,"  the airline said.