Airlink Update

Airlink is quietly becoming a bigger airline

From 31 August, Airlink will place its 4Z code on Qatar Airways flights between South Africa and Doha, making Doha its first long-haul destination. The arrangement initially covers Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with further Qatar Airways destinations expected to follow. (Fly Air Link)

I think this is more significant than it looks.

Airlink has built its business around being a regional airline, feeding markets that the large international carriers cannot efficiently serve themselves.

Now it is effectively extending that network into the long-haul market without having to operate long-haul aircraft.

That is smart.

The Qatar relationship already includes Qatar's 25% investment in Airlink and the existing codeshare on Airlink's domestic and regional network. (Fly Air Link)

This is therefore not simply another codeshare, it is a logical development of the partnership.

Airlink can offer its customers access to Doha and Qatar's global network, while Qatar gets deeper access to Airlink's South African and regional network.

That is how a smaller airline can compete with much larger carriers: not by trying to become one, but by becoming more useful to them.

There is another interesting development. Airlink will also launch three weekly Lanseria–Harare flights from 15 November, its first scheduled service from Lanseria. (timeout.com)

Taken together, these moves suggest that Airlink is continuing to build its position as the regional network specialist, rather than simply expanding for the sake of expansion.

And that, in my view, is exactly the right strategy.

 

FlySafair, Harith and CemAir: What Is the Real Issue?

The proposed Harith acquisition of FlySafair has generated the predictable debate about competition, market dominance and ownership.

I think we are looking at the wrong question.

The issue isn't whether Harith should own FlySafair.

The issue is whether South Africa can allow an airline to grow while ensuring that the infrastructure around it remains genuinely competitive.

That is a much more important question.

FlySafair has become successful because it has done something relatively simple very well: operate a low-cost airline efficiently. It has built scale, maintained a strong operational reputation and developed a proposition that works in the South African market.

We should not penalise an airline for achieving that.

In fact, South Africa needs more successful airlines.

The problem arises because Harith is not simply an investor in an airline. It also has an interest in Lanseria Airport. That creates a potential conflict.

An airline competes with other airlines.

An airport provides infrastructure to those airlines.

If the same investment interests are present on both sides, competitors are entitled to ask whether access to the airport will remain neutral.

CemAir has raised precisely that concern.

The better answer is to make the rules around the infrastructure very clear.

Competitors using Lanseria should receive equal treatment.

Airport charges should be transparent.

Access should be non-discriminatory.

Commercially sensitive information must be protected.

And there must be proper oversight when those rules are breached.

If those conditions can be enforced, I don't see why South Africa should prevent investment simply because the investor already has interests elsewhere in the aviation sector.

The bigger issue is scale

There is another point that tends to get lost in these arguments.

South Africa does not have a huge domestic airline market.

We cannot simply assume that more airlines automatically means more competition.

Airlines need scale.

They need aircraft utilisation, network density, purchasing power and efficient operations.

A market containing several financially weak airlines is not necessarily more competitive than one containing fewer financially strong airlines.

We have seen enough airline failures in South Africa to understand this.

The objective should therefore not be to prevent FlySafair from becoming successful.

Nor should it be to allow FlySafair to dominate without constraint.

The objective should be sustainable competition.

That means allowing efficient airlines to grow while ensuring that competitors have a genuine opportunity to compete.

What about CemAir?

CemAir shouldn't simply be dismissed because it is a competitor.

Its concerns deserve to be tested. But there is also a strategic lesson for CemAir. It doesn't need to become another FlySafair.

CemAir's opportunity is to exploit the areas where its own operating model provides an advantage — smaller markets, different aircraft economics and regional connectivity.

And what does Harith bring?

This could ultimately be the most positive aspect of the transaction.

South African aviation needs capital.

It needs infrastructure investment.

It needs airlines that can think beyond the constraints of the domestic market.

If Harith can provide FlySafair with the capital and infrastructure platform to expand into carefully selected African markets, the opportunity could be considerably larger than simply increasing domestic capacity.

My view

I would allow the transaction, subject to strong and enforceable competition safeguards.

The issue is not whether Harith owns FlySafair.

The issue is whether ownership of an airline and interests in aviation infrastructure can coexist without disadvantaging competitors. Historically and all over Africa this is, and has been the case. Consider SAA and ACSA for example.

That is what the regulator should focus on.

South Africa needs investment.

It needs successful airlines. (If the deal stalls then FlySafair will need to seek other ownership due to the outstanding regulatory issues.)

It needs competition.

And it needs infrastructure.

We shouldn't sacrifice one to achieve another.

The objective isn't to protect airlines from competition.

It is to make sure that competition remains possible.

12 Year Engine Rule

 

The 12-Year Engine Rule: South Africa Finally Moves from Calendar Time to Engine Condition

For years, South African general aviation has been caught in an awkward regulatory debate over the so-called 12-year engine rule.

An engine could have relatively low utilisation, a sound maintenance history and no obvious indication of an impending failure, yet the passage of twelve years could trigger a major maintenance requirement. For private aircraft owners, particularly those operating aircraft for relatively few hours each year, the financial consequences could be severe.

That situation has now changed.

The publication of the Thirty-Sixth Amendment to the Civil Aviation Regulations in Government Gazette No. 55226 on 21 August 2026 provides a regulatory basis for a Condition Monitoring Programme (CMP) under Parts 91 and 43. The change provides an alternative pathway for eligible privately operated, type-certificated piston aircraft to continue operating on condition, subject to the requirements of the programme.

It is best described as a move from calendar-driven maintenance towards condition-based continuing airworthiness.

And that is an important distinction.

An engine does not become safe simply because it is twelve years old.

Nor does it become unsafe simply because it is twelve years old.

The job of the maintenance system is to determine its condition, manage its risks and provide objective evidence that it remains airworthy.

That is ultimately what good aircraft maintenance management should be about.

The African Aviation Paradox

 

FlySafair Showing Confidence

 ‍DUBAI — South Africa's low-cost carrier and Boeing 737 operator Safair (FA) has signed a lease agreement with AerCap for three new Boeing 737-8 and 2 737-800 jets.

Announced on day 2 of the 2025 Dubai Air Show, the deal will see the pair of 737-800s delivered in Q3 of next year, with the 737-8 following in Q1 of 2028.

This is the airline’s first commitment for the 737 MAX, making it the first operator in South Africa after the less than week-long stint with the type in 2021 of now-liquidated Comair.

"We are very pleased to welcome FlySafair as a new customer to AerCap, and to support their fleet modernization plan," said AerCap Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Anderson. "We thank the team at FlySafair for their partnership and wish them every success as they expand their network to meet growing customer demand."

FlySafair Chief Marketing Officer, Kirby Gordon, also stated, "We're thrilled to embark on this next stage of our fleet development with AerCap as we introduce the Boeing 737 MAX to our operations. This partnership represents a meaningful investment in efficiency, sustainability, and passenger experience.”

FlySafair currently operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet consisting of 4 737-400s and 35 737-800s, all second-hand aircraft with all-economy cabins.

March 2025

The regulatory authories have wisely granted FlySafair a grace period of 12 months to attend to the matter of their shareholding and controlling interests. At the same time we expect there to be considerable discussion regarding the definitions of shareholder in the licencing regulations.

This decision is logical and prevents a disruption of air services in the SA market. In the longer term we reiterate our view that local majority shareholding in airlines is not a necessity in the deregulated era. The main national economy benefits of air transport accrue from tourism, jobs, and connectivity. The trading profit of airlines is small in comparison to the broader benefits, and so the national economic interest is best served by increasing air transport activity. Whether this is by locally owned operators or not, is of less importance.

Simultaneous to this saga, FlySafair competitors have continued to publicly aim negative criticism at FlySafair regarding both their overbooking practices, and more recently their safety event reporting. It would seem that this trend to undermine a dominant carrier is increasing, and is to be expected.

FlySafair in hot water

It is difficult to resist the temptation to comment on the current turbulence relating to FlySafair. The turbulence relates to 2 issues, both of which have politico-legal substance.The primary issue relates to the FlySafair "ownership" issue, and the second relates to FlySafair overbooking practices.

As far as the ownership is concerned, both the domestic and international licencing councils have declared FlySafair to be in contravention of South African aviation policy regarding foreign ownership. We currently are waiting for these bodies to announce the sanctions to be proposed. Note that both of these councils consist of government appointees.

There are three areas for discussion of the ownership debate. The first is the overall merit of the requirement for a limit on foreign airline ownership, the second is the legalise surrounding the definitions of ownership, and the third is the impact of the council findings, and who gains and who loses.

For discussion on the overbooking debate we should look at the concept of consumer rights, as opposed to the industry practices, and their impact on airfares.

Ownership Issues

1. The principle of foreign ownership

Although we are in an era of airline deregulation and open skies, many countries do still insist on some portion of local ownership of airlines. This portion varies generally from 25% to 75%. Why is this?

Air transport is a major contributor to any country's economy. The connectivity which the industry provides, leverages major economic activity. Nations are therefore keen to ensure that maximum benefit accrues to local interests in the home country.

Airline profits are wafer-thin, and thus the earnings portion of economic benefit is small compared to the other benefits, such as tourism income, job creation and travel industry earnings. Conversely, for a country with a small economy, the availability of foreign capital can unlock more benefit, than the actual airline earnings portion. This motivates the recent Qatar investment in Airlink.

2. Legalities and sanctions

The licencing councils are constituted as impartial arbitrators, whose role is to enable industry participants whilst ensuring that the air regualtions are complied with.

The fact that it has taken a few years to constitute the air services licencing councils, has led to a long waiting period to address the issues at hand with respect to FlySafair. This should not influence the judgment on this issue, but is most unfortunate.

There is some disagreement on whether owners have to be "natural persons". Most South African airlines have portions of ownership not belonging to natural persons. There is a reasonable argument which proposes that few natural persons have the financial resources to own part, or all, of an airline. This would suggest that the licencing councils, the interpretation, or the air regulations, are off the mark with the rulings under discussion.

There is a suggestion that the licencing councils are being patriotic and chauvinist, rather than pragmatic and understanding of the industry contributions. It is also reported that the councils are imposing conditions on their findings which are not specified in the regulations.

The sanctions available to the licencing councils include fines and suspension of a licence. It seems hardly practical to summarily suspend the FlySafair operating licences. This would have dramatic impact on the travelling public, and the industry in general. A fine seems unlikely, since if we conclude that FlySafair is breach, then it would be argued that is the failure of the licencing councils that FlySafair have been allowed to operate for such a long period.

 

 Winners and losers

Should FlySafair be forced to terminate services, the winners would be the competitor airlines, indeed they are the main instigators. This would include the government owned SAA. The losers, if FlySafair are forced to suspend operations, will be the entire travel industry, including customers, as well as current employees. In the longer term, we would expect airfares to move upwards, thanks to reduced capacity supply, and the disappearance of a benchmark low-cost operator.

 

Overbooking Issues

4. Industry practice

Globally, airlines do overbook flights since on every flight there are likely to be no-shows. The International Air Transport Association fully supports the practice. Each individual airline will adopt a detail policy based on its market and refund policies. In South Africa, some airlines have commented that they do not overbook, but prefer to refuse refunds to no-show passengers.

5. Consumer interest

It is tough to judge which is the worst of 2 evils: overbooking or no refund for the consumer. No-show passengers can have very valid reasons for failing to arrive for a flight. In both cases we believe that the crux of the matter is the manner in which the airline manages and recovers the situation. For example, we would hope that overbooking level is reduced where there are no alternative flights to a destination on the day of the occurrence.

There is no specific provision for airline overbooking in South African consumer legislation. Globally there are specific compensation regulations.

Spring 2023 Update

After an hiatus of over 2 years and much action on the local front, here is an update on the Southern African scene.

In South Africa, FlySafair has rapidly risen to the dominant domestic position, now flying 37 Boeing 737 aircraft, and serving domestic and regional destinations. Boasting impressive ontime performance and pleasing customer service, this low-cost carrier receives many awards and accolades.

Airlink has also grown significantly since the end of the epidemic and now has an extensive regional network served with a large fleet of mainly Embraer aircraft. Airlink is a higher yield carrier with a profile more business focussed.

South African Airways, Lift, and Cemair make up the remainder of the South African domestic scheduled marketplace, which appears to be somewhat underserved at peak times in the main leisure markets.

Comair, SA Express, and Mango remain dormant. Comair are pursuing legal action against Boeing, and Mango are attempting resurrection but being blocked by government.

South African Airways is starting to operate the longest locally originated flights out of Johannesburg to Ghana and Nigeria and also to Buenos Aires, but otherwise foreign operators dominate longhaul in and out of South Africa.

Regionally, there are developing signs in various Southern African territories. Perhaps the most established is Proflight in Zambia, which has now started operating Boeing aircraft. Government backed Zambia Airways has also just started competing with them, with co-operation from Ethiopian. Ethiopian is also involved in Malawi, where they have a stake in the local carrier. 

Air Botswana have stabilised, and are offering a reliable 3 aircraft operation, with jet service to Cape Town, Harare, and Lusaka. LAM Mozambique are absorbing Mozambique Express and have a co-op agreement with a consulting group to try and lift them to liquiditý/profitability. FlyNamibia are showing good growth on the base of the Westair Aviation group. 

In Zimbabwe, FastJet seems to have re-appeared in a more local suit and is presenting a dynamic profile. They are capitalising on the failure of Air Zimbabwe to offer a viable service.

The underlying economic weakness of Africa remains a factor which is holding back development but there are encouraging signs, and certainly tourism is at least returning.

 It seems that the airline industry is in a "new normal", there is not going to be a sudden disappearance of the pandemic, and that we can no longer view the situation as a temporary aberration. It is therefore necessary to establish a new context to allow the Southern African industry the best opportunities to rebuild and flourish.

We call on those responsible to:

1. Give full impetus to implementing a standard vaccination passport as per ICAO and IATA guidelines which can contribute to the opening up of international travel restrictions into, and out of, Southern Africa;

2. Urgently re-constitute the International Air Services Licencing Council, so as to facilitate the flow of regional and international air traffic and eliminate any forms of protectionism;

3. Completely remove airport slot restrictions, and the regulations thereto associated, until traffic levels meet the required levels for re-imposition as per international standards;

4. Give all possible assistance to destination marketing bodies in both public and private sectors.

Gary Webb

Aviation Advisory Board

Aviation Advisory Board

The newly formed Southern Africa Aviation Advisory Board has got off to a fine start. We now have a solid working group of 15 experienced aviation professionals from various sectors, and from as far afield as Canada and Germany. All the members have African roots. In addition we have 35 members who have indicated a desire to assist where possible. 

We are united in our love for aviation and our belief that we can create a better aviation future.The members are committed to staying in touch with developments in the industry, both locally and internationally.

The Board will make itself available to provide advice on aviation matters affecting the region, assist in aviation research projects, engage in topical conversations, and also intends to publish viewpoints on current aviation affairs. The subject matter expertise currently onboard includes Air Traffic, Training, Airports, Airlines, Tourism, Regulatory Affairs, Consulting, Security, and Publishing.

At this time the team is shortlisting the critical issues which the Board wants to focus on in the near-term. These include the reboot of air services, collaboration with associated industries, and the overall aviation education and training landscape.

We invite interested professionals who wish to participate in any way to get in touch with us.

We are also prospecting for possible sponsors.

gary@webb-elgin.com

Aviation Advisory Board Africa

Organisation of the Advisory Board is proceeding and the name list is substantial.

As part of efforts to create an Aviation Advisory Board we have created a quick survey of opinions to help us align to the needs of the industry. We would really appreciate a couple of minutes of your time.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3V283HJ

#saveaviation #savetourism #aviationafrica 

Our mission:

Help to build a sustainable aviation industry for Southern Africa, securing the talent and expertise that exists in the region, avoiding past mistakes, and defining appropriate regional solutions.

Save SA Aviation

Is now the time to form an SA Aviation advisory board in a bid to save the remnants of the industry. It is going to take a concerted harmonised effort to put the industry back on track and consequently also help to rescue tourism to some extent. Consisting of solid experienced aviation buffs from all disciplines. I am pretty sure that they are out there and at this time have the space to put in some effort.

The overall brief could be "How to reactivate a healthy aviation industry in Southern Africa within the envelope of major pandemic and economic distress". Examples of the questions needing to be covered (in no particular order) would be airport distancing, charter permissions, private flying, subsidies, capacity caps, role of government, open skies, temporary relief of non-safety related regulations.

An example of the crazy current scenario is that Gautrain can operate but airlines cannot. It appears to be a function of the airports rather than the aircraft.

Another crazy is that government wants to ceate a new national carrier from the ground up whilst being unwilling to support existing successful entities.

hashtag#saveaviation #wecoms #webbelgin


We have started to solicit candidate names

South Africa - Airlines Update

As South Africa ushers in a "new era", here is a review of the state of play in the South African market.

South African Airways: The new CEO has completed an initial situation analysis. Jurana said that even with a government injection of R10 billion expected in March, SAA would remain under-capitalised with over R9 billion in negative equity, outstanding debt of R13.8 billion and rising, and with loans to domestic lenders and the US’s CitiBank of R4 billion due by March 2018. He said that the loss for 2016/7 was R5.6 billion and not the R4.6 billion previously forecast (or an even earlier forecast of R2.8 billion). Revenue came in at R14.5 billion, nearly R1 billion lower than the budgeted R15.4 billion. All domestic routes are losing money.

SA Express: State-owned airline South African Express has been unable to satisfy the auditor-general that it can continue operating as a going concern for the next 12 months. This was the reason given by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown for the airline’s failure to table its annual financial statements for the 2016-17 financial year in Parliament before the end-September deadline. The airline tabled only its 2015-16 financial statements in the past few weeks. The loss-making airline has already faced an application for liquidation by a creditor, which has been withdrawn.

Mango: The third state-owned airline is adding more capacity, and picking up some of SAA's routes domestically. They are believed to be operating 9 aircraft.

Airlink: Airlink is privately owned and does not publish results, but it is seen to be continuing to grow, and is in the process of introducing EMB190 aircraft. The route network continues to grow and is a balance between thin domestic routes and medium regional routes. Airlink is seeking to acquire Safair domestic operations.

Comair: Comair [JSE:COM] issued its annual financial results on Tuesday, reporting a 54% increase in profits to R297m and a 28% increase in cash generated by its operations.
Comair operates under its low-cost airline brand, kulula.com, as well as under the British Airways livery, as part of its British Airways license agreement. Income generated by its non-airline brands now constitutes 20% of its earnings.

Safair: Safair is one of South Africa's oldest operators. The low-cost operation, FlySafair, is a recent launch. Now operating 9 aircraft domestically, and reportedly profitable. The target of merger talks with Airlink.

Cemair: A second tier operator operating thin routes.

Fastjet: Based in Johannesburg and operating regionally. Fastjet Plc will begin flying from Mozambique this year and expects to commence internal South African services in 2018 as it rekindles growth plans put on hold as losses mounted. With the operating loss down 57 percent in the first half and break even forecast for the fourth quarter, Fastjet is ready to revive its pan-African ambitions, aided by a $44 million fundraising, about one-third of which will come from shareholder Solenta Aviation Holdings, it said Friday.

Federal: Federal Air is the market leader in Southern Africa in Air shuttle services and operates daily flights to all the top game lodges and reserves in the region.

General Airline Commentary - More on Key Success Factors

The airline industry continues to confound observers, academics, investors, owners, employees and passengers. The financial ups and downs over many years make for good reading and bad returns. Surely there is a formula for success? Well, not so fast!. Whilst it may be possible to identify key success factors and isolate pitfalls, it does seem that airline management hangs on for dear life as the numbers plunge from boom to bust. Warren Buffett is reported to have said that the total returns in the airline industry are less than zero if you look at the entire global industry.

There is consensus that the airline industry is a difficult one. If we build a Porter model to assess the difficulty or competitiveness of the industry, we will find that the airline industry does warrant a “difficult” rating, with certain exceptions where monopolies, duopolies, or oligopolies exist.

The factors which contribute to the difficulty come from two key areas. Firstly, it is an expensive business to operate. Aircraft ownership, fuel, pilot salaries, and maintenance costs make for high unit costs. Secondly, the airline seat is perishable. Its value drops to zero as the flight is closed for departure. This means that airlines will adopt pricing models that seek to minimise empty seats, and are often unable to establish a breakeven price. In a competitive market, this can lead to aggressive price competition, with no “stop loss” level.

Additional complexity, or difficulty, arises from both the need to maintain high levels of safety and security, as well as the need to satisfy multiple market segments within a single product strategy. It is also fairly clear that the fortunes of the airline industry track the global oil price fairly closely.

In spite of this, there are willing investors and entrepreneurs who will support new entrants, or come to the assistance of struggling ones. The desire to put assets to work often outweighs the clear prospect of returns. There also seems to be a fascination for the “glamour” of the industry, and a desire to say “I own an airline”.

So if it is a given that airline businesses will continue to be launched, relaunched, and rescued, what can be done to minimise the business risk? There is no “silver bullet” and we believe that there are few universal key success factors. Critical factors in one market, may have no impact in another.

In any form of business there are some typical “vital signs” which must be monitored and actively managed, and these generally apply at the high level in airlines. So, for example, we look for ruthless cost control, good branding, visionary leadership, operational efficiency, solid human resourcing, and clear understanding of market and customer needs.

However, in airlines there are another group of key success factors which are dependent on situation and strategic decisions. Typically these are the “train set” of the business – where to fly, what to fly, when to fly, what to charge, and what to give. In more airline jargon we could refer to these as “network planning”, “fleet planning”, “flight scheduling”, “yield management”, and “product and service design”.

In ongoing articles we will attempt to break these topics down into digestible portions, and get as close as we can to a recipe for success.

Another Inaugural Flight

Skywise took to the Joburg skies this morning, March 5th 2015, with their first "revenue" flight, and they follow the procession of Southern Africa start-ups that we have seen in the last while.

The consumer has benefited from more choice and lower fares, and the number of "specials" offered by the established players has increased tremendously, as expected.

Although South African Airways and SA Express take the limelight with their liquidity issues and government loan guarantees, the influence of the new entrants cannot be overlooked.

FlyAfrica continues to expand its network, with the Zimbabwe routes being the jewel in the crown for the time being. The backers of FlyAfrica still remain invisible, but they seem to carry influence in countries neighbouring South Africa. There have always been reports that Paramount Aviation is involved.

FlySafair has launched successfully, and should have benefited from the Christmas holiday rush. They have moved into thinner routes to George and Port Elizabeth, and it remains to be seen whether these are sustainable at low fare levels. The "pay for baggage" policy does seem to have generated much negative reaction. FlySafair is now flying a 4 aircraft schedule.

Skywise has sneaked into the picture without the normal fanfare, and their ownership is also obscure. They obtained the licence to operate by buying the company shell from the former owners of 1Time, and apparently purchased Global Airways with their AOC. The holding company is PAK which is a trans-africa trading company. The Mandela family are involved here.

What we would expect in a domestic market where 2 new entrants are trying to establish a footprint is some insane pricing at quiet times. The key indicator of success will be how soon the new airlines increase frequency.

Meanwhile, Mango's boss is now acting in charge of SAA. This must be changing some perspectives. Two fire sales have already taken place on the SAA website. Strong rumours abound that Etihad will soon take an equity stake in SAA. The government involvement will certainly make this exercise as interesting as was the Etihad-Alitalia tie-up.

At last there is some action in the local industry, and good news for African economies.

Our website: www.webb-elgin.com

This Is A Real Low Cost Carrier

AirAsia X is the king of low costs

AirAsia X has the lowest unit costs in the industry. It is the only airline in the world with CASK below USD4 cents.

This is aided by AirAsia X operating longer average stage lengths (about 5,000km) than other LCCs. AirAsia X’s shortest route is three and a half hours.

Other players in the medium/long-haul segment are not publicly traded or do not provide separate figures for narrowbody and widebody operations. But AirAsia X primarily competes against Asian full service carriers which have unit costs that are two to four times higher. AirAsia X is the only LCC on all 22 of its routes – although it does compete against other LCC groups on several connecting city pairs.


AirAsia X’s costs inched up in 2Q2014 due primarily to higher fuel prices. But cost controls and productivity improvements have resulted in lower staff, sales and marketing costs. The group expects lower CASK in 2H2014.

Airline Key Success Factors

During our popular ongoing Airline Commercial Management workshops we challenge participants to brainstorm a list of 5 key success factors in today's airline landscape. During the workshops we harvest the opinions of the airline delegates and attempt to distill their knowledge into the highlight list. Whilst there are diverse views of course, the following elements dominate the submissions:

1. Visionary,strong, and strategic leadership...
                     many names spring to mind including Kelleher, Fernandes, OLeary

2. Ruthless cost management

3. Multiple sources of ancillary revenue, and continuing to develop new sources

4. Effective use of information technology in distribution, yield management, and social networking

5. Deregulated environment with minimal government intervention/ownership

It should be possible to derive a success index, based on these factors, and a traditional SWOT and competitor analysis, that could form the initial basis for an airline success rating.

FlySafair Update

FlySafair have relaunched and announced that flights will commence on October 16th 2014. Initially they have offered JNB-CPT and CPT-PLZ at low fares. Baggage is not included.

The following from Travel News Online:

FlySafair has opened ticket sales for the second time, with plans to launch services in October - exactly a year after the airline initially planned to take flight.

FlySafair first opened ticket sales for flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town, in September last year, with the maiden flight scheduled for October 17, 2013. The airline was blocked from launching and forced to re-accommodate and refund passengers after the court granted an interdict sought by competitors, Comair and Skywise.

Now, the airline has opened bookings, with its first flight between Cape Town and Johannesburg set for October 16.

The LCC is advertising fares starting from R499 between Cape Town and Johannesburg and R399 between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

Dave Andrew, ceo of FlySafair, said in a statement: “These are not just opening specials or marketing showstoppers to announce the start-up. FlySafair is ready to bring you the value that you deserve.”

Fly Africa

Fly Africa, the new low-fare carrier, is set to launch operations on 23JUL14. Initially it will operate Johannesburg – Victoria Falls service 3 times a week, with Boeing 737 aircraft. The airline uses IATA code “Z7″.

Flight schedule:

Z7104 JNB0900 – 1040VFA 737 357
Z7111 VFA1420 – 1555JNB 737 357

UPDATE: Flights postponed due to Zimbabwean CAA finding problems with operational documentation.

Fastjet Update

The following article appeared in atwonline today:

"African budget carrier Fastjet has suspended operations at its Fly540 Ghana subsidiary as part of its long-running battle to curb its legacy Fly540 losses.

FastJet acquired African regional airline Fly540 to accelerate its low-cost launch, giving it instant access to air operators’ certificates in Angola, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. It used this as a platform to launchFastjet-branded Airbus A319 operations from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in November 2012.

However, Fastjet has struggled to secure route rights for its budget expansion—partly due to questions over ownership and control—and its legacy Fly540 business has been racking up losses. Earlier in May, Fastjet suspended Fly540’s Angolan operation—pending restructuring—and said Ghana was also on its watch list.

Ghana has now followed in the footsteps of Angola. “Fly540 operations in Ghana are being temporarily suspended pending further restructuring. Fly540 has served notice on the leasing agreement it holds on one ATR aircraft in Ghana,” Fastjet said in a statement. It has already put two ATRs, previously operating in Ghana and Angola, up for sale.

Fastjet CEO Ed Winter said the legacy Fly540 business is not part of its core low-cost model. He reiterated his ambition to launch Fastjet low-cost operations in both Angola and Ghana in the long term.

For the shorter term, Fastjet is focusing on East and Southern Africa; it is aiming to establish bases in Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. “These plans are progressing well,” Winter said. 

However, Fastjet’s international expansion has been sluggish and its tentative plans to partner with airlines and investors in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa have been slow to materialize."