VELVET SKY BOOSTS DOMESTIC PRESENCE
Low-cost carrier Velvet Sky Airlines, the latest entrant in the busy South African domestic market, is to boost capacity on its routes from Johannesburg to Cape Town and Durban following the arrival of a second Boeing 737. The airline, which launched operations on March 22 this year, will increase its flights on the Johannesburg – Cape Town route from one to three flights per day, while Johannesburg – Durban will be served 14 times a week, up from 12 currently, from August 9. There is already a lot of competition on these two routes with 255 weekly frequencies on the Durban – Johannesburg route and a massive 365 weekly flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg, and the airline has had to differentiate itself from existing operators - either through price or service – to win market share on the routes. South African Airways, Comair, OneTime Airlines and low-cost operators Mango and Kulula are established on the routes but during its first full month of operation (April), Velvet Sky had secured a nine per cent share of the Johannesburg – Cape Town market and seven per cent of the O&D traffic between Johannesburg and Durban. This was clearly achieved through a low-fare strategy with Velvet Sky’s fares the lowest on the routes. Velvet Sky was incorporated in February 2008 but spent the past three years formalising its launch, while the industry was in downturn. It is backed by a number of local investors including Chairman Cecil Reddy, owner of engineering company Macdonald Holdings, and Chief Executive Officer Dhevan Pillay, who has interests in the retail sector, mainly in the photographic business. This latest expansion marks the second stage in the airline’s development. It originally planned to begin operations with three Boeing 737-300s offering a greater schedule on its launch routes but took a more cautious stance ahead of its launch.
ETIHAD CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS OF FLIGHTS TO KHARTOUM
United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag carrier Etihad Airways has celebrated the fifth anniversary of non-stop services between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum with the introduction of a fifth weekly flight on the route. The airline commenced operations to the capital of Sudan in July 2006, and since then has carried more than 200,000 travellers and nearly 6.5 million tons of cargo on the route. “Our services to Khartoum have exceeded our expectations over the past five years, and we are pleased to be able to build on this success with an additional flight,” explained James Hogan, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways. “Khartoum is a special destination for us due to the established cultural and commercial ties between Sudan and the UAE.” “Etihad has enjoyed consistently high load factors across all cabins since the launch of services between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi in 2006 and we are very proud of that success,” said Mohamed El Noman, Country Manager for Sudan, Etihad Airways. “The additional weekly flight will open new horizons for our commercial activities in the Sudan and will offer our customers more flexibility in their travel to Abu Dhabi and onto the airline’s worldwide network.” Etihad currently operates a two class Airbus A320-200 aircraft between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum, configured to carry 136 passengers – 16 in Pearl Business Class and 120 in Coral Economy Class.
AIR NIGERIA ADDS WEEKLY FLIGHT TO SAO TOME
As part of the ongoing expansion of its domestic and regional network, Air Nigeria has confirmed that it will inaugurate a weekly flight between Lagos and Sao Tome, bringing to ten the number of regional routes operated by the carrier in Africa. The flight will launch on August 23 and will operate via Douala, Cameroon and will extend on to Libreville, Gabon. Sao Tome is an island in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It has a rich reserve of natural resources and is predominantly a holiday resort with vast expanses of beaches. However, air services are still limited with TAAG Angola offering flights to Luanda, Angola and Praia, Cape Verde; TAP Portugal serving the Portuguese capital Lisbon and local carrier STP Airways flying to Lisbon and the neighbouring island of Principe. From its base at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos, Air Nigeria currently operates domestic flights to Benin City, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Sokoto and Enugu and regional services to Brazzaville, Accra, Douala, Dakar, Monrovia, Cotonou, Banjul, Libreville and Abidjan. It has ambitious plans to extend its network to more African destinations and locations in Europe, Asia and America.
MANGO REVISES SCHEDULE
South African low-cost carrier Mango has formalised a complete restructuring of its schedule, which is resulting in modified departure times, new flight numbers and other amendments. The new timetable will be introduced in stages during August and will be fully incorporated by the start of September. “The new schedule is the culmination of several months’ research,” said Nico Bezuidenhout, Chief Executive Officer, Nico Bezuidenhout. “Mango’s high asset utilisation ratio already counts among the top tiered low-cost airlines globally. Along with a more effective schedule that will serve our Guests better, we will also see even greater improved asset utilisation.” Mango was launched by South African Airways in October 2006 to compete against low-cost rivals in the domestic market. It launched flights on November 15, 2006 and currently offers flights from Cape Town to Bloemfontein, Durban and Johannesburg – serving both OR Tambo International and Lanseria airports. It also has direct flights from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein and Durban. According to the latest schedule data it currently offers 230 flights per week, offering more than 43,000 weekly seats to domestic travellers. This accounts for an 11.8 per cent share of the total capacity in the domestic South African market. An estimated 973,000 O&D passengers travelled on these flights in the past year, ranking Mango as the fifth largest domestic airline in the African country accounting for 9.2 per cent of the traffic.
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