Relief has finally come to agents who are struggling to find availability on the JNB-DUR route for their clients, just as South Africans’ thoughts start to turn to the big end-of-year exodus to the coast.
Domestic carrier, Lift, is set to open up a great many seats on its new route, from Johannesburg to South Africa’s most popular seaside city, with three flights a day.
Bookings are already live today, and flights start on October 26.
As well as the new route, Lift will increase its frequency between Johannesburg and Cape Town to up to 14 flights per day, adding seats to the popular route.
The airline says its expansion has now begun with this first step in connecting the popular ‘Golden Triangle’ between Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The next step will be connecting Cape Town and Durban (the opening date for bookings is yet to be confirmed), and flights are expected to begin operating in November.
“We’re also adding four aircraft to our fleet which has been done using flexible capacity and can easily be increased or decreased based on demand. This growth in our fleet and new routes will create more than 100 new jobs before the end of the year,” says Lift CEO and co-founder, Jonathan Ayache. This too will be very welcome news for agents struggling with a chronic shortage of capacity on the JNB-CPT route.
“It's been a challenging two years but looking ahead we expect the market to recover to pre-pandemic levels in late 2023 and for a second year in a row we will be doubling our seat capacity.”
On all its routes, Lift offers complimentary snacks and coffee from Vida e Café.
What has made it very popular with travel agents and their clients is that it also offers flexible flight changes with unlimited penalty-free changes, no cancellation fees, and quick and easy refunds into the traveller’s Lift wallet. Lift also offers selected dog-friendly flights, an important feature for some consumers.
Lift has a business-class product, Lift Premium’, offering industry-leading leg-room, more spacious seating, an elevated snack and drinks offering, priority boarding, fast-track security, priority support, a dedicated check-in area and lounge access.
Phindile Makwakwa co-chair of Durban Direct and Acting CEO of KZN Tourism, said: "The KZN market has been eagerly awaiting the establishment of this new and exciting air service by Lift. The airline adds additional seat capacity to the Durban market, which improves access to our destination for both our business and leisure travellers.
“The importance of air transport to South Africa continues to be highlighted by the role domestic and international airlines play in the movement of people, commodities and investments that fuel our economic development."
