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Samoa Airways explains booking problems

[SN file photo]
The Samoa Airways booking system is currently undergoing testing and upgrades, so explained the airline’s Marketing Manager, Mr Dwayne Bentley, during an interview last week.

He said the new airline recognizes that their current booking engine is inadequate to meet the expectations of their international travellers’ booking flights with them.

The airline has been in operation now for two weeks and has acknowledged that they have hit some complications after receiving complaints from would-be travellers. 

Mr Bentley acknowledged that they were aware that their current booking system was not on par by international standards before the airline was launched, but that time constraints prohibited them from installing a booking engine at the start that was adequate enough to meet the various demands of international flight enquiries.

 

The Samoa Airways booking system is currently undergoing testing and upgrades, so explained the airline’s Marketing Manager, Mr Dwayne Bentley, during an interview last week.

He said the new airline recognizes that their current booking engine is inadequate to meet the expectations of their international travellers’ booking flights with them.

The airline has been in operation now for two weeks and has acknowledged that they have hit some complications after receiving complaints from would-be travellers. 

Mr Bentley acknowledged that they were aware that their current booking system was not on par by international standards before the airline was launched, but that time constraints prohibited them from installing a booking engine at the start that was adequate enough to meet the various demands of international flight enquiries. 

“One of the challenges that we faced in the beginning was not having enough time to do everything that we needed to do and so what we’ve had to do is just move forward as best as possible with what we had but we also looking forward to the new technology and ways of doing things which is where the new booking agent comes in.”

“When it was announced that the international service was going to be up and running again, we knew straight away that the current booking engine was just not good enough, especially when we looked at what the other carriers around the world are offering so we’re working very closely with our reservations system partner.”

“In terms of the booking engine being a lot more user-friendly and people being able to see the different fares available a week out, we are also at the same time working on a brand new, booking engine. We are in the process of testing the different components of the booking engine and we hope to finalize and launch everything before the end of the year.”

Ms Jo Mikarna, was one of the first travelers who encountered problems and was  featured in an article titled “Lack of flights devastate prolific visitor to Samoa”. 

Ms Mikarna said that she was unable to find suitable flight options available with Virgin airlines after they reduced their flight options to Samoa and she also found that flights around her preferred travelling dates were booked out with Samoa Airways, when she searched on their website.

“Samoa Airways fly from Sydney but they do not run every day and all flights are booked out” Ms Mikarna said a week ago.

Mr Bentley reached out to Ms Mikarna through the Samoa Observer to counter the impression that there is a lack of flights between Australia and Samoa and later assisted her with her booking.

However the misinformation and confusion did not end there.

The Samoa Observer has received further reports from the public who were also experiencing confusion with Samoa Airways’ booking system which showed flights were “booked” when they were not.

Read more at Samoa Observer