New developments drive
greater connectivity
THE development of
hubs across Africa,
coupled with increased
connection options from
South Africa, has led to
an increase in choice
and convenience for local
travellers.
Johannesburg, Cairo, Lagos,
Nairobi and Addis Ababa are
the top five hubs in Africa,
according to Plane Talking
md, Linden Birns.
Johannesburg has always
been, and will continue
to be, significant for the
African continent, says June
Crawford, ceo of Barsa.
“Nairobi will also always be
a dominant player because
of its geographic position,”
she says. However, other
emerging hubs are rapidly
growing in importance.
Addis Ababa, in particular,
has seen significant
development over the
past 10 years. The hub is
convenient for travellers both
in terms of its geographic
location and connections
onwards that are offered
through its home-based
carrier Ethiopian Airlines.
“When a new terminal was
built in 2005, it was done
so with consideration for the
upcoming decade. In that
time, Ethiopian as an airline
has grown tremendously –
especially over the past 10
years during which we have
seen almost 25% growth
year-on-year in terms of
passenger numbers, revenue
and operating profits,” says
Ethiopian Airlines’ regional
manager for Southern Africa,
Abel Alemu.
“This, in turn, has brought
more passengers to Addis
Ababa,” he says.
According to Abel, 70%
of Ethiopian Airlines’
passengers transit through
Addis Ababa. The airline
currently has an annual
passenger count of seven
million passengers, he says.
“This is mainly because
more Africans are travelling
and more foreign countries
are investing in Africa. As
such, there is more traffic
coming into the continent as
well,” says Abel.
Ethiopia – being in East
Africa – is at a crossroads
between three continents,
Abel says.
“Europe is a maximum of
four hours away, the Middle
Eastern airspace is a twohour
flight and of course
it is not too far from any
point in Africa. So there is
a population of 5,3 billion
within a 10-hour radius of
Addis. This, coupled with ET’s
large number of direct flights
on offer from Addis, give us
a geographical advantage to
connect passengers further
than any other African hub.”
Abel reveals that most of
the traffic out of Africa is
travelling to India, China and
the Gulf region.
Access via the Indian
Ocean Islands
Mauritius is another hub that
offers an increasing number
of convenient connections
for South African travellers
through its home-based
carrier Air Mauritius.
As a result of increasing
traffic between China
and Africa specifically, Air
Mauritius will launch flights to
Guangzhou on July 12.
The airline offers more
direct connections to the Far
East than any other African
carrier, says Air Mauritius
regional manager for Africa
and Latin America, Carla
Da Silva. “Mauritius is
centralised between Africa
and Australasia, offering
travellers less flying time
from South Africa to these
destinations,” she says.
A flight to India, for
example, is between five and
six hours from Mauritius. A
flight to Perth is seven hours,
and Mauritius is just four
hours away from South Africa.
“Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolan International
Airport is a first-class airport
that was totally revamped
and overhauled recently with
the objective of transiting
passengers enjoying an
easier and more comfortable
process,” says Carla.
For business travellers,
the airport also offers
an established business
centre that includes highspeed
Internet access.
“There is also a kids’ corner
for families travelling via
Mauritius,” Carla adds.
Greater options are offered
via the Seychelles as well,
through Air Seychelles’
partnerships with SAA and
Jet Airways. Travellers from
around South Africa can
fly into Johannesburg on
SAA, then connect to the
Seychelles on Air Seychelles.
Those visiting India can then
make use of the airline’s
partnership with Jet Airways,
which affords Air Seychelles
passengers flying into
Mumbai the opportunity to
connect on to nine onward
codeshare points within
India.
“Furthermore, we also
provide access to the United
Arab Emirates and to the
expanded codeshare network
of the Etihad Airways Partners
group consisting of Etihad
Airways, Alitalia, airberlin,
Air Serbia, Etihad Regional
and NIKI,” an Air Seychelles
representative told TNW.
Book it!
South African Airways will introduce economy-class promotional
fares between Johannesburg and Maputo, effective for all sales on
or before July 13. Travellers can pay R370 return, excluding taxes,
to fly from Johannesburg to Maputo. Travellers can pay MZN100
(R254) return excluding taxes to fly from Maputo to Johannesburg.
Travel is valid on or before September 30.
More options for local travellers
DOMESTICALLY, both Cape
Town and Durban are
growing in importance when
it comes to convenient
connections for South
African travellers.
Ethiopian Airlines will
increase its number of
direct flights between Addis
Ababa and Cape Town from
two flights weekly to four
weekly flights, effective
July 1. The airline joins
British Airways, Turkish
Airlines, Lufthansa, Thomas
Cook Airlines and Kenya
Airways in the list of airlines
placing more focus on Cape
Town as part of their route
networks.
“Carriers are realising
that travellers do not
want to connect through
Johannesburg, and are
responding to that demand
by introducing direct flights
out of Cape Town,” says Fly
Blue Crane coo, Theunis
Potgieter.
Fly Blue Crane will launch
direct flights between
Windhoek and Cape Town –
its first regional route –
later this year.
Wesgro, the official
tourism, trade and
investment promotion
agency in the Western Cape,
devised an initiative to
create airlift opportunities
into Cape Town in
partnership with Acsa and
the City of Cape Town.
According to June Crawford,
ceo of Barsa, this strategy
has been dubbed the ‘Airlift
Strategy,’ and is centred on
creating sustainable routes
with selected markets.
“This initiative has
resulted in a Cape TownKenya
route launching in
July (operated by Kenya
Airways), which creates
significant access into a
key hub in Africa,” she
says. This could be a great
model for the rest of South
Africa to use as a lesson
in facilitating airlines into
South Africa and opening
new, key networks, June
adds.
Durban’s King Shaka
International Airport is also
growing in significance,
she adds, with Qatar
Airways and Turkish Airlines
operating a direct service on
this route.
This growth could be
largely due to the KwaZulu
Natal government being
proactive in creating
opportunities for this to
happen, says June. “This
could also be due to
the Bilateral Air Service
Agreement between South
Africa and the United Arab
Emirates,” she adds.
Proflight Zambia and
Ethiopian Airlines also
launched direct services to
Durban recently. Ethiopian
flies to 52 destinations
across Africa, connecting
through its hub in Addis
Ababa.
Theunis predicts that
Durban will follow a similar
trend to Cape Town in that
more airlines will launch
direct services to the
destination. “However, the
tourist market in Durban is
not as big as that of Cape
Town, therefore the impact
will not be as large as it
has been in Cape Town,”
he says. “Nonetheless,
OR Tambo International
Airport will always be the
predominant hub for
South Africa.”
News Flash!
Air France launched
services to New York’s JFK
airport from Paris-Orly
Airport on June 6. The
daily flights are operated
by a Boeing 777-200, with
35 seats in business class,
24 in premium economy
and 250 seats in economy.
“Our customers thus
benefit from optimised
connections without having
to change airports,” the
airline said in a statement.
Flight AF032 departs
Paris-Orly at 11h20 to
arrive at New York’s JFK
at 13h25. Return flight
AF037 departs New York
JFK at 18h25 to arrive
at Paris-Orly at 07h45
the next day. In addition,
Air France now offers La
Première, Flying Blue
Elite Plus members and
business passengers a
brand-new lounge in Hall
3 at Paris-Orly Airport.
The lounge is open from
05h30 to 22h00 daily.
Airlink plans more flights from Wonderboom
IT’S almost a year since SA
Airlink commenced flights
between Pretoria and Cape
Town from Wonderboom
Airport, giving residents in the
capital and surrounds a means
of getting to the Mother City
through an uncrowded airport,
with reduced check-in times.
The airline commenced with
an initial three return flights
daily, but reduced this to two.
Says ceo, Rodger Foster:
“There have been some
inhibitors such as the K97 off
ramp to the Platinum highway
not being open, but these are
all being addressed and in due
course airport access will be
quicker and easier and volume
growth will accelerate.”
The airline is keen to have
the third flight reinstated as
soon as passenger numbers
dictate, in order to provide
more optimal flight timings to
cater for the complex needs of
its customers. “Airlink plans
to increase frequency in the
near future without adding
more capacity than the market
can sustainably absorb,” says
Rodger. He says the flight
attracts a blend of leisure and
business travellers, that vary
by the time of day, day of the
week and leisure seasonality.
“Our flight times aim at all
facets of the market”
Airlink hopes to introduce
flights from Pretoria to Durban,
and from Pretoria to Port
Elizabeth, in the future. These
plans will be activated once
the Pretoria-Cape Town service
matures.
The airport is keen to
encourage more carriers
to use its facilities, and a
Council Resolution taken by
the Tshwane municipality
in 2012 gives it the green
light to pursue service level
agreements with airlines
whose fleet and operations
meet the technical limitations
of its infrastructure.
One of those limitations is
noise. A spokesman points
out that, at present, the
airport uses a noise limitation
guideline to determine the
number of scheduled flight
movements that can be
allowed within the operational
hours of 06h00 to 22h00, to
avoid affecting the surrounding
community negatively.
Although noise levels depend
on aircraft type, it is fairly
safe to assume that some 60
scheduled flights a day (30
inbound and 30 outbound) can
be handled with ease.
Passenger facilities at
Wonderboom include undercover
car parking, security
services, a modern departure
hall, arrivals hall with an
electronic carousel, baggage
trolleys, restaurant, hotel,
kiosks, numerous vehicle-hire
companies, taxis, a tourism/
information centre, air ticket
sale offices, and a clinic for
medical emergencies.
Recently opened at
Wonderboom Airport is
the Grey Sunbird Business
Class lounge, operated in
partnership with SA Airlink
and SAA. Business-class
passengers, SAA Voyager
Lifetime Platinum, Platinum
and Gold members with one
guest can use the lounge.
The airport has made
a submission to obtain
international status. Once it is
granted, provision will be made
for international passengers.
News flash!
Delta Air Lines has launched 30 seasonal routes to 19 cities across
Europe. Seasonal flying, where Delta operates routes during peak
demand times, is particularly important on the transatlantic where
demand is typically 50% higher from leisure travellers during the summer
vacation period but weaker during the winter. As part of its summer
schedule, Delta is increasing services between Rome and the US,
including a new route to Minneapolis and flights to Detroit. Other yearround
markets with new services include Munich, Germany, to Detroit and
Reykjavik, Iceland, to Minneapolis.
Heathrow expansion would improve customer experience
WHILE the debate over the
proposed expansion of Heathrow
Airport continues to rage on,
Heathrow Airport Holdings
maintains that an additional
runway and new terminal building
will improve the overall passenger
experience.
Liezl Gericke, country manager
for Virgin Atlantic in South Africa,
agrees, explaining that Heathrow is
massively constrained with capacity
so travellers will benefit from the
additional capacity at the airport.
Should the runway expansion take
place, it will also mean more slots
for airlines to fly to Heathrow, which
will give customers more choice,
she says. “And more choices for
travellers mean more opportunity
to ensure that Heathrow remains
the airport of choice for transiting
passengers,” Liezl says.
She admits the issue of funding
remains contentious. “The debate
is centred on who is going to
pay for this expansion. Is it
government? Airport taxes? Where
will the money come from?”
Nonetheless, Liezl says Heathrow
is still the number-one airport of
choice for South Africans as it
connects two source markets in the
form of South Africa and Britain.
“The Johannesburg-London route
is the most popular route on the
entire Virgin Atlantic route network
in terms of passenger numbers,”
Liezl comments.
Plus, travellers know they can fly
virtually anywhere in the world from
Heathrow, she adds. Eighty airlines
fly into Heathrow, serving 183
destinations in 82 countries.
Corporates enjoy flying through
Heathrow as well, says Liezl,
because it is a trusted hub with a
long legacy behind it.
Turkish ups flights, enhances schedule
TURKISH Airlines is increasing
its frequencies on several routes
this year.
From June 28, flights between
Istanbul and Bari, Italy, will
increase from four weekly flights
to five.
From June 28, flights between
Istanbul and Konya, Turkey, will
increase from 28 weekly flights
to 30.
From June 27, four weekly flights
between Istanbul and Abu Dhabi
will be launched.
From October 31, flights
between Istanbul and Durban
will increase from four weekly
flights to five.
From November 5, Turkish will fly
four times weekly from Istanbul
to Durban via Johannesburg.
From October 26, it will fly seven
times weekly from Istanbul to
Johannesburg.
From October 26, it will fly seven
times weekly from Istanbul to
Cape Town.
Did you know?
Seventy-five million passengers travelled
through Heathrow in 2015 – 205 400 a day
– 51% arrivals and 49% departures. 93%
(69,8m) were international passengers and
only 7% (5,1m) were domestic. 64% (48m)
were leisure while 36% (27m) were business
travellers. The most popular destinations
for travellers flying onward from Heathrow
are (in descending order) New York, Dubai,
Dublin, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
