SOUTH Africa’s newest
airline, Fly Blue Crane,
is rapidly expanding
regionally. The airline has
been granted 14 frequencies
from Johannesburg to Maputo,
Mozambique and 14 from
Johannesburg to Manzini,
Swaziland, says ceo, Siza
Mzimela.
She says South Africa’s
International Air Services
Council has given its approval
for the two routes and a
launch date will be announced
in the next few weeks,
once the airline receives its
foreign operator permits from
Mozambique and Swaziland.
She says the Maputo route
will require careful planning
because Fly Blue Crane has
been restricted to 400 seats
per week on that route.
The airline currently leases
two 50-seat, single-class,
Embraer Regional Jets (ERJ)
145s from Johannesburgbased
Solenta Aviation and
is currently in discussion with
the leasing firm for two more
ERJ-145s for use on the new
routes. It plans to upgrade
to 90-seat aircraft next year
in order to grow its routes,
Siza says, but she declined to
specify which aircraft type were
being considered.
This follows the successful
launch on May 13 of the
airline’s first international
service with twice-daily flights
from Cape Town to Windhoek,
Namibia. Speaking to TNW at
Cape Town International Airport
before the inaugural flight, Siza
said the airline was offering
competitive fares combined
with a quality product and
onboard service on the route.
She says Fly Blue Crane is
keen to introduce one or two
more domestic flights but that
ultimately the airline’s focus
is on the region and it will be
looking at additional bilateral
route rights to the rest of
Southern Africa.
“There is still a need for
additional capacity in the
region at certain times of
the day with smaller gauge
aircraft,” she says.
Domestically, the
airline currently serves
secondary routes between
Johannesburg and Kimberley
and Johannesburg and
Bloemfontein, both of which
are mostly used by business
travellers. Its flights from
Kimberley to Cape Town attract
VFR and leisure travel.
Having launched in
September last year, traffic
on Fly Blue Crane is picking
up, Siza says, especially
since it is now bookable on
Amadeus and Travelport, with
travel agents earning 5%
commission.
“Everybody who has tried our
product has been pleasantly
surprised,” she says. “Every
month our figures show that
we are growing, but there is
still a lot of work to be done,
because of the competition
and [because] we have to
introduce people to a new
brand.”
