Fastjet receives Foreign Operator Permit

Fastjet, the low-cost carrier operating from its hub in Tanzania, has finally received its Foreign Operator Permit from the South African Department of Transport. This was the final administrative hurdle that needed to be overcome, in order for the airline to begin operating flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg.

“We expect this to be a particularly popular route, due to the fact that South African Airways has had a monopoly on this route for far too long,” said Ed Winter, Chief Executive Officer of fastjet. “We are very keen to offer substantially more affordable fares to customers and further stimulate the potential traffic between these two key African cities, which can only have a very positive effect on the critical trade, commercial and tourism industries between South Africa and Tanzania.”

Fastjet’s June revenue in Tanzania exceeded $2.2m, a 22% increase on the previous month. Fastjet load factors for the month grew from 68% to 78%, with yield per seat also increasing.

 

Johannesburg Popular Tourist Destination

According to the third annual MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, Johannesburg is expected to be the most popular destination in Africa, with a projected 2.54 million international visitors expected during 2013.
Despite a marginal 5.5% increase in international visitors from 2012, Johannesburg’s substantial 53.6% growth from 2009 to 2013 has propelled it into the Index’s top 20 fastest growing cities globally. Johannesburg also comes out tops in Africa in terms of international visitor spending, with $2.7 billion estimated to be injected into the city during 2013.
Thirteen African cities were ranked within 132 cities that were included in the Index – Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Cairo, Casablanca, Accra, Nairobi, Beira, Dakar, Kampala, Lagos, Maputo, and Tunis.

Codeshare for Air Seychelles and SAA

South African Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with Air Seychelles. The first phase of the agreement will see South African Airways place its ‘SA’ code on Air Seychelles’ non-stop flights between Johannesburg and Seychelles. South African Airways will also place its code on flights between the two largest islands of Seychelles, Mahé and Praslin, subject to approval. Following the launch of the partnership between the airlines, they will look into expanding the agreement to include Air Seychelles placing its 'HM' code on South African Airways’ non-stop flights between Johannesburg and destinations across South Africa. The deal follows a strategic move by Air Seychelles to increase its connectivity throughout South Africa and continental Africa. Ticket sales are set to open on 29 April, for travel from April 30. In March, Air Seychelles introduced an enhanced schedule and additional weekly service on its Johannesburg route, bringing the flights to three return services per week with daytime departures and arrivals.

Free Holiday Season W-Fi for Mango Flyers

G-Connect in-flight Wi-Fi will be available free of charge to Mango customers on all enabled flights between Durban and Johannesburg, in both directions. The airline’s Wi-Fi service was launched in May this year. The gratis period takes place during December, through to 31 January 2013. Mango expects to transport more than 75,000 customers on the Durban and Johannesburg route between 11 December and 31 January 2013. With an up-time of over 95% and average speeds of 1Mbs on enabled aircraft, the G-Connect In-Flight Wi-Fi service exceeds many terrestrial line speeds. Next year, Mango and G-Connect plan to introduce on-demand entertainment, live television and limited games across its In-Flight Wi-Fi network. Recently, Mango became the first South African airline to offer a booking and payment channel through its mobi site, with plans afoot to launch an iPad application soon.

Mango Launches New Routes

Low-cost South African airline, Mango will begin operating daily return flights between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, as well as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, from 5 December. A leased-in aircraft will initially be used to operate one return flight daily between the respective cities until early next year, when Mango expects to add additional capacity to its own fleet.
 “There is a requirement for a low-cost carrier on the Johannesburg-Port Elizabeth and Cape Town-Port Elizabeth routes, and with the recent exit of capacity, Mango has brought forward its plans by a few months in order to accommodate market demand,” said CEO Nico Bezuidenhout.
 He added that the new route is one of several planned for the next 18 months, with a focus on the east-African seaboard. Mango’s first flight between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth will depart on 5 December.

Johannesburg Launch for Ethiopian Dreamliner

Ethiopian Airlines will start using the B787 Dreamliner in Johannesburg from 14 December. ‘Cloud Nine’ or Business Class is equipped with sleeper seats, while the Economy Class has reclining seats with more legroom and a spacious cabin. The aircraft has state of the art on-demand audio and video services, with 15.4-inch IFE screens and 85 channels in Business Class, whilst Economy Class has 8.9-inch screens and 80 different channels. The Dreamliner has higher humidity for a better cabin altitude/pressure; bigger storage for onboard luggage; 60% smaller noise footprint than peer airplanes; the biggest windows in the sky; and unique and adaptable lighting.

Airlink Beefs Up Mthatha Service

Airlink will introduce daily services between Johannesburg and Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, on one of its 12 Embraer ERJ135 37-seat regional jets, from 1 October.
The new service is in line with the growing demand for travel to Mthatha, which is attributed to growing interest in this region, both as a tourist destination and its increasing influence as one of the important hubs in the Eastern Cape. It is also in line with the Mthatha airport upgrade, which includes a new terminal building and upgraded runway.
 The jet service will provide increased capacity as well as shorten the flying time between Johannesburg and Mthatha to just over an hour. Airlink services Mthatha twice daily, Monday to Friday, with a Saturday morning and a Sunday afternoon flight.
Morning flights will depart Johannesburg at 06h15 and arrive in Mthatha at 07h20, before departing again from Mthatha at 07h45 and arriving in Johannesburg at 09h00. Afternoon flights - including Sundays - depart Johannesburg at 16h05 and arrive in Mthatha at 17h10, before departing again from Mthatha at 17h30 and arriving in Johannesburg at 18h45. Saturday morning flights depart Johannesburg at 08h20 and arrive in Mthatha at 09h25, before departing again from Mthatha at 09h45 and arriving in Johannesburg at 11h00.
 Benefits for Airlink travellers include Voyager Miles and convenient interline connections with SAA and its Star Alliance partner flights, both locally and globally.

New Flights for Air Namibia

From May, Air Namibia will be flying from Cape Town, South Africa via Windhoek, to the following African destinations: Harare, Zimbabwe; Gaborone, Botswana and Ondjiva, Angola.

All of these new flights are also available from Johannesburg. The airline is also running specials on flights from Cape Town to Accra, Ghana; Lusaka, Zambia; Windhoek and Walvis Bay, Namibia; Luanda, Angola; Maun, Botswana; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and Frankfurt, Germany.