South African Airways has already taken steps to reduce any potential impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the airline's spokesperson Tlali Tlali told Fin24 on Thursday.
He says SAA assures customers that its operational health and safety procedures adhere to the World Health Organisation's protocols to protect customers and crew from contracting coronavirus while flying with SAA.
"We assess all our passengers and advise that if they are feeling ill, they need to follow recommendations offered by medical professionals," said Tlali.
Decontamination
Should health authorities inform the airline that a person who travelled with SAA exhibited coronavirus symptoms, the aircraft will be taken out of service and put through a decontamination process.
As for SAA subsidiary low-cost airline Mango, it told Fin24 that the airline understands airlines must play a key role in preventing the spread of pandemics like Covid-19.
"As stewards of travel, we take this responsibility extremely seriously and always strive to ensure that our passengers can travel unhindered and stress-free," a Mango spokesperson told Fin24.
Red flags
"We have reviewed and reiterated our already stringent safety controls for communicable diseases, which help us identify red flags and how to address them. We know that hygiene lies at the centre of prevention, so over and above the personal hygiene requirements we have of our flight crews, we have increased our aircraft cleaning efforts and are currently developing a passenger awareness campaign."
At present, Mango leadership and technical teams are in the process of formulating extra precautionary measures to ensure that passengers are not only safe but feel comfortable and reassured.
According to Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, at this point, it is difficult to quantify the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism industry, but the industry is experiencing a crisis.
Multiple sectors
She said tourism supply chains involve everything from agriculture and fishing to banking and insurance, with the hardest hit part of the value chain that will likely be the core industries which include accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services.
"To mitigate against the potential negative impact on businesses and jobs, we will work with all stakeholders to implement certain measures that will assist to bring relief to affected businesses and individuals," she said. These could include engaging Treasury to assist businesses in distress to access employment incentives and looking at relief measures for employees registered with the UIF.
"Post the coronavirus crisis, work will need to be done to restore the country's brand and to promote South Africa as a tourist destination of choice. To this end, we will reduce spending on marketing, especially global marketing, given that in the current environment we are unlikely to make the impact we want with our marketing initiatives," the minister said.
"We will conserve the funds for use in the future to reposition the country through various programmes including incentives and mega events."
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