After a month long poll to find out from the public what their next route should be, FlySafair has tallied the votes and the new routes have been announced.
FlySafair will be adding four new routes to their scheduled service. The airline will be adding return flights between Cape Town and East London, Cape Town and Durban, Johannesburg and East London and Johannesburg and Durban to their current network. Initially the airline only covered the Cape Town – Johannesburg route, when they launched in October last year. They quickly expanded and currently operate flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and George, Johannesburg and George and Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
The airline will start flying on these new routes from the 25th of October 2015. October is the start of the high season in the South African tourism industry, an opportune time to launch routes that connect Cape Town and Johannesburg with two of South Africa’s most popular coastal destinations, Durban and East London.
FlySafair will be the first low cost carrier to operate flights on the Cape Town – East London route since 1Time Airlines went into liquidation in 2012. The only airline currently operating direct flights on the East London – Cape Town route is SA Express. They will be hoping to break the monopoly that SA Express has had on the route for the last three years. Mango, Kulula, British Airways and SA Express all operate return flights on the Cape Town – Durban route. FlySafair will have to go head to head with low cost carriers, Mango and Kulula, currently servicing the route.
South African Airways (SAA), British Airways operated by Comair, Mango and Kulula all operate daily flights between Johannesburg and Durban. Competition on the Johannesburg – East London route will be less fierce for FlySafair than on the Johannesburg – Durban route. The only airlines currently operating flights on the Johannesburg – East London route are Kulula and SAA. FlySafair’s entrance into the domestic market in October of last year, has brought the average airfare on the routes they operate down quite dramatically. When FlySafair and Skywise started flying in South Africa, industry insiders did not believe that the market was large enough to accommodate two additional low cost carriers. At that stage Kulula and Mango had been operating flights for a couple of years already, and two low cost carriers, 1Time Airlines and Velvet Sky, had gone bust only a couple of years earlier. FlySafair’s expansion is a sure sign that the market is strong enough to keep all four low cost carriers in the air.
Schedule and Cost
FlySafair will operate one return flight between Cape Town and East London daily. The Cape Town – Durban route will have two daily return flights. Between Johannesburg and East London, FlySafair will operate 2 return flights on weekdays, and one daily return flight over the weekend. Lastly, the airline will operate 4 daily return flights between Johannesburg and Durban. FlySafair flights to Durban and East London will take off on the 25th of October 2015.
Ticket sales have already opened.
Here is what you will be paying:
Johannesburg to Durban from R485*
Johannesburg to East London from R485*
Cape Town to East London from R485*
Cape Town to Durban from R585*
*Subject to change, limited availability. Vice Versa*
