Cheaper fares to Mthatha?

FARE prices are
expected to drop on the
Johannesburg-Mthatha
route following Fly Blue
Crane’s announcement that
it would launch flights from
October 1.
The airline intends to sell
fares at R799 one-way.
Currently, Airlink’s one-way
fares start at R2 200.
Rodger Foster, ceo of
Airlink, the only airline
that currently operates the
route, said the airline would
have to do what it needed
to in order to remain
competitive. “We won’t
necessarily be the ones to
lead a price war but we are
in the free market situation
and if we must compete on
fares we will.”
“The Embraer 145 aircraft
we operate will have better
economic performance
on the Johannesburg to
Mthatha route compared
with the aircraft currently
being flown on the route.
This will enable us to
deliver a premium service
at affordable rates,” Cilliers
Jordaan, planning specialist
of Fly Blue Crane told TNW.
Rodger said routes such
as JNB-UTT were very
difficult to compete on
because they were “thin
routes” with very little
market elasticity. “The
market won’t necessarily
grow just because you drop
the fare; in such a situation
all you’re doing is making
it cheaper for the market
to fly.”
In 2010, Comair
launched flights between
Johannesburg and Nelspruit
said Rodger. “They came
with a much bigger aircraft
and they dropped fares
by 50% but demand only
increased by 5%.”
Besides tapping into the
current business market
flying the route, Cilliers
says Fly Blue Crane will
stimulate an untapped
leisure market with the
introduction of cheaper
fares. “There are a large
number of passengers from
Mthatha who opt to drive
to East London and then fly
from there to Johannesburg
because there are more
affordable fares available
from East London.”
Mthatha Airport is a
category 4 airport and is
expected to be upgraded to
a category 5, says Cilliers,
making it possible for Fly
Blue Crane to operate
larger aircraft. Airlink
currently uses a 37-seat
ERJ 135 on the route.
“The airport was a
category 5,” says Rodger.
“At the time, Airlink
operated large-gauge
aircraft until the airport
became incompetent at
category 5. When it was
downgraded to category
4, we were forced to
operate a smaller aircraft.
If the airport upgrades to
category 5, we’ll go back to
the size of aircraft we were
using before.”
Fly Blue Crane expects
the JNB-UTT schedule to be
available 40 days before
operations commence on
the route and tickets are
expected to go on sale at
the same time.