Madagascar: Flight cancellations – Complaints from vacationers and tour operators

Domestic flights are now only operated by two ATRs, which does not exclude cancellations that penalize the tourism sector.

Disruption. A domestic flight from Tsaradia connecting Antananarivo to Toliara was canceled yesterday, Friday. And the next flight is not yet assured. “So far, there is no alternative proposed by the company while we have a well-organized stay plan for weeks,” regrets a vacationer who planned to spend a few days in Ambatomiloha, north of Toliara. With the long Easter weekend, more than one want to enjoy the sun in the South. “Once the flight is canceled, the whole program falls apart because we had planned a direct transfer to Ambatomiloha from Toliara today (ed: yesterday). Spend three nights there for a return on Monday,” adds the interlocutor. If there is a flight only on Saturday, on that day, it is no longer necessary for the tourist and his family to come to Toliara. With two ATR aircraft, it is very difficult for the airline to ensure daily flights during this holiday period.

Loss

It was the same for Sainte-Marie, a flight canceled and no announcement of a rescheduled date for the passengers.

“And us, hoteliers, what do we do?” laments Michèle Cotsoyannis, owner of a large hotel in Ambatomiloha. Organizations and investments support these tourist accommodation activities. With orders for catering and bookings arranged for weeks. Ambatomiloha is located 200 km from Toliara where food has to be brought in apart from fish. In other establishments, reservations have been made since January. Tourists have thus been turned away to honor the initial reservations. But now, everything is canceled. Tourists prefer to fly to the South due to the poor condition of the RN7. Ambositra-Fianarantsoa is very bumpy as well as Sakaraha-Andranovory. “The plane is practical if we don’t want to spend the little time we have on the national road,” adds the tourist who could not leave. “The situation of air transport penalizes both tourist operators and tourists. We cannot talk about the development of tourism at all,” concludes Michèle Cotsoyannis.

MiotiSoa Mare