FlySafair introduces new services

FlySafair will launch new
routes between Durban’s
King Shaka Airport and
East London as well as Durban
and Port Elizabeth. The first
flights will depart on November
27 and tickets are already
on sale through the airline’s
website.
The launch of these routes
follows a survey (see TNW
May 17) that FlySafair
conducted to determine
public appetite for potential
routes. The survey included
the Durban-East London and
Durban-Port Elizabeth options
along with Nelspruit-Cape
Town, Durban-George, Cape
Town-Bloemfontein, LanseriaBloemfontein
and LanseriaCape
Town.
The winning route according
to the survey, with a majority
of 54% of the votes, was Cape
Town-Nelspruit. However, the
airline chose to launch the
routes that came in second
and third place for business
reasons.
Kirby Gordon, head of
Sales and Distribution of
FlySafair says the airline
had to consider the demand
to capacity fit (enough
passengers on seats);
efficiency (maximizing the
available flying hours of
the aircraft and crew), and
take-off and landing slots as
determining factors when
deciding which routes to
launch.
 “The interest in the Cape
Town-Nelspruit route is very
encouraging and we’ll certainly
keep looking into it too,” he
adds. The new routes will be
operated using a Boeing
737-400 with 165 seats