NEW to the LCC
game but not new
to aviation, FlySafair
launches its first flight this
week on October 16.
Ceo, Dave Andrews, told
TNW the response from
the South African market
had been good but that the
travel trade was slow to
get on board. “We’ve seen
consistent growth, week
on week, in ticket sales.
Things are certainly headed
in the right direction.” But
Dave admitted there had
been hesitance from the
trade, who had the stance
“when you start flying, then
we’ll talk”.
However, unlike many
other start-up low-cost
carriers that have come and
gone in the South African
market, the airline has
40 years’ experience in
the aviation industry. “Our
biggest benefit is that this
is not our only business
and we’re not a true ‘new’
business. Safair has been
around a long time; we
have a lot of experience
and assets. We’re not
solely dependent on our
low-cost operation,” Dave
said.
He added that the oil
price seemed to be heading
in the right direction, which
boded well for all airlines.
Another advantage was that
Safair’s traditional business
is outside the country, with
dollar earnings, so the
airline had a bit of a hedge
against the exchange rate.
FlySafair’s primary focus
is to get operations running
and then engage more
travel agents. “It’s very
difficult. With our fares
priced the way they are,
there’s not a great margin
for commissions to be paid
but we certainly believe
there is a way we can do
things together with the
trade,” he said.
Meanwhile, with its pricing
structure, FlySafair hopes
to stimulate a new segment
of the market. “If I look at
the enquiries we’ve been
getting through our call
centre, there are a lot of
first-time fliers and this is
a market we’d like to see
developed,” said Dave.
The airline will initially
launch flights from Cape
Town to Johannesburg,
Port Elizabeth and George.
“It’s important to first get
up and running and then
we can look at connecting
the dots domestically,”
Dave said. He added that
the airline was interested
in looking at regional
operations but that was
“quite down the line”
