DESPITE widespread
media reports that
fastjet will launch
internal flights in SA next
year, the airline’s ceo, Nico
Bezuidenhout, told TNW that
the airline had no plans to
expand here just yet.
Nico says the SA market
is currently oversubscribed
on certain trunk routes and
the airline will not launch
domestic operations next
year.
Instead, fastjet is working
on a stabilisation plan that
will see it focus on its core
markets – Tanzania, Zambia,
Zimbabwe and South Africa
– and offer capacity where
there is demand, says Nico.
“The airline expanded too
quickly into some markets
and introduced capacity that
exceeded demand, which
impacted its sustainability.”
Fastjet will now reshape its
fleet and refine its schedules
to ensure medium- and longterm
benefits, says Nico.
The airline has cut three
of its routes, including the
indefinite suspension of
its Johannesburg-Victoria
Falls service, which it
announced on November 28.
As a consequence, agents’
confidence in the airline has
declined, with many saying
they would not book fastjet
unless they were forced to.
Jan Engelbrecht Klitzke,
of ITC The Boyz Travel
Merchants, says, as a rule,
his company does not book
airlines like fastjet until they
are well established. He
would rather lose the sale
and have the client book
online than be left with the
headache of an airline going
bust.
Reena Lallo, md of Fast
Link Travel, says she is
nervous to book with fastjet
and advises her clients
to pay a little more with
alternative airlines.
Maro Kyprianides, md
of Tour Destinations
International, says she will
only book with the airline
if her clients need to travel
within the next few days,
adding that it’s too risky
to book the airline too far
in advance out of fear of
whether it would still be in
operation.
Nico says the travel trade
is critical to any airline’s
success and that fastjet
plans to address any
perceptions that may have
impacted its relationship with
agents and operators.
Fastjet puts brake on SA domestic flights
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