Despite the fourth wave of COVID in South Africa, LIFT had its best month ever in December, according to CEO, Jonathan Ayache.
“We operated almost 300 flights, moved approximately 45 000 people with 96% on-time performance,” he told Travel News.
The airline is taking a cautious approach, with a single route between Johannesburg and Cape Town. “Our flexible, demand-driven business model makes it possible for us to adapt to the changing needs of our customers, allowing us to adjust and add flights to our schedule very quickly, while offering our business protection in the event of a downturn due to COVID,” said Ayache.
LIFT has already increased the number of flights it operates, thanks to the eased lockdown restrictions and removal of curfew. “The number of flights has been increasing month on month steadily since October. December was the month with the most flights since we launched,” said Ayache. “Time slots vary slightly day by day, but typically we have about five return flights per day from both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
“While fleet growth and network expansion are planned in 2022, we are cautious, as the impact of COVID is still with us, evident in the start of the fourth wave and the foreign travel bans associated with the Omicron variant. If there is demand, we will offer the required supply. It’s impossible to predict demand in this environment.”
The airline has made flexibility a priority for customers. “LIFT was the first airline in SA to launch full flexibility as a standard, where tickets can be cancelled or changed online up to 24 hours before the flight, with no fuss and at no extra charge. We want to decommoditise air travel and move the booking experience from being price-focused to being experience-focused, with flexibility being the key,” said Ayache.
In November, the airline introduced LIFT Experiences, a range of holiday packages that include flights and accommodation. Certain packages include meals, car rental, experience vouchers, and more.
The airline said it had seen a steadily growing customer base in 2021.
