Africa is a continent crying out for a decent transportation network. The railway systems are largely fragmented and crumbling. The top nine airlines in Africa carry fewer passengers a year than Delta alone does in two months. Trade, tourism and travel are all hampered by an inadequate infrastructure. Enter fastJet with the vision of a series of low cost airlines throughout Africa all using A319s, all sharing brand, marketing and infrastructure. With a pedigree as impressive as Easyjet‘s Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a chunk of cash and the backing of Lonrho PLcwho already invest in 18…
South Africa
Tag Archives for South Africa.
Air Zim flies with No Passengers
Air Zimbabwe flew an an empty 767 from Johannesburg to Harare on Monday November 12th. The plane which has seats for 203 passengers had flown in the morning to Johannesburg from Harare International with five passengers. There were nine crew aboard including two pilots, a first flight officer, an engineer and six flight attendants. This was a result of nil marketing by the airline about its resumed services after its latest grounding. Since then, the airline has launched new cheap fares offering round trips to Johannesburg for 420 US dollars .This compares to South Africa Airways 630 US Dollar return…
Time ran out for 1time
In September, commenting on South Africa’s only truly independent airline going into bankruptcy protection to reorganise, I asked the question “will 1time run out of time and become another lost carrier in 2012?” On November 2nd, CEO Blacky Komani announced that the “1Time board, together with business rescue practitioners, decided to suspend services with effect this afternoon“. Planes in the air at the time flew back to the Johannesburg base. All other scheduled flights remained grounded. South African banks promised their Credit Card customers full refunds for any tickets bought using their cards. The National Consumer Commission began investigating claims that 1time…
No time for 1time?
The South African airline industry has had a very colourful and interesting selection of carriers. Now they really seem under pressure. Earlier in 2012, airline Velvet Sky went into liquidation. The action was launched by oil company BP over unpaid bills. At the end of August, the carrier 1time which is estimated to have 15 per cent of the SA market, filed for “Business Rescue” . This arrangement protects the airline from any creditor forcing it into liquidation while the new management team tries rescue the carrier. 1time (which means in South Africa: “for real!” has…
Choosing an Airline in South Africa
Booked to fly SAA for the first time in April, 2012 from Perth, Australia to Johannesburg on one of their Airbus A340-300s. My seat request is in the emergency exit. Anyone flown with SAA? Any advice? Tips? Also, I am doing a couple of internal flights. The logical thing would be to fly British Airways because I get lounge access, points etc but I am also curious to try the other airlines too. How come South Africa has six domestic airlines playing between major cities? Maybe I could spend one day just flying them all?!!! 1time “one…
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