DOMESTIC niche route
operator, CemAir, is
expanding its network and
has grown its fleet with a
new 50-seater Bombardier
Dash-8 Q300 to boost
capacity on its popular
Margate and Plettenberg
Bay services.
Co-owner, Laura van der
Molen, confirmed that a
Cape Town-Hoedspruit route
via Johannesburg, to be
operated with the airline’s
existing fleet of 50-seat
Bombardier CRJ jets,
was pending finalisation
of operator changes at
Hoedspruit Airport.
The airline announced
recently that it would
launch flights between
Bloemfontein and Port
Elizabeth on October 4.
The twice-weekly flights will
be operated by a 19-seat
Beech1900D.
Laura said the new
Dash-8 Q300 aircraft was
a turboprop but offered a
jet-like experience because
of its noise-cancelling
technology. It was able
to land and take off on
shorter runways, such
as those at Margate and
Plettenberg Bay, and
therefore was ideally suited
to boost capacity to these
destinations during peak
times.
National sales manager,
Shaniel Singh, said
Margate was CemAir’s
most popular route, with
14 off-peak flights a week
increasing to 22 a week
in peak season. Traffic
on the route is split
equally between leisure
and corporate, thanks to
strong support received
from the Margate business
community. Shaniel said
Plettenberg Bay was a
seasonal leisure route, but
CemAir was working closely
with Plettenberg Tourism to
boost traffic during the offseason.
Meanwhile, planned
CemAir flights to
Grahamstown are on hold
after the debt-ridden local
municipality was unable to
provide fire-fighting services
at Grahamstown Airport.
Shaniel said CemAir had
upgraded the airport (as it
had done at Margate and
Plettenberg Bay) but could
not provide fire-fighting
services as well.
