Local domestic carrier FlySafair, has applied for the rights to fly to more destinations in the sub-Saharan region.
FlySafair has quickly shot up as one of South Africa’s most popular domestic carrier, especially because of its budget options which had not been available in the country before their launch. It is also the first to have put planes back in the sky after the lockdown on some travel was lifted.
FlySafair has applied to fly more regional routes.
The airline has applied for three weekly flights from Johannesburg to Mauritius, Zanzibar and Windhoek. The applications will be reviewed by October.
‘During August, FlySafair operated at about 14% of its August 2019 seat capacity and we continue to suffer losses while so few of our aircraft are in the air. We urgently need to find new opportunities to deploy aircraft and, at a time when so many regional competitors are operating under conditions of business rescue, this may be a good time to expand our route network in this direction,’ Chief Marketing Officer, Kirby Gordon told Tourism Update.
If the application is approved, the flights won’t begin operation immediately. Rather preparations would need to be made to ensure the transition from domestic to international carrier was completed. This would include equipping aircrafts, set-up technology needed for passport approval and find spaces in international departure halls.
As such, Gordon estimated that the routes will only launch in 2021, depending on the recovery of the air travel sector.
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