FlySafair has been awarded rights to operate a twice-weekly service between Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport and Mauritius and is currently preparing to be able to launch this route when the island reopens. This will be FlySafair’s first regional route.
Mauritius is currently closed for scheduled flights, with a review of the situation expected before February 15. More than 100 000 South Africans visit the Indian Ocean island destination annually. Operators have been concerned about accessibility, as the three carriers that have traditionally serviced the Johannesburg-Mauritius route – Air Mauritius, SAA and Comair – are all in business rescue.
FlySafair’s chief marketing officer, Kirby Gordon, previously told Travel News that the airline had a lot of work to do before it could launch regional routes. Among other things, this included correctly equipping its aircraft for international trips, establishing a presence in the various international departure halls, gearing up its technology to be able to collect and process the necessary passport and visa information and put processes in place for the repatriation of international currency.
Kirby said the airline was making good progress on all of these points and while he was unable to confirm a launch date for the new route – due to the island’s ongoing closure – FlySafair hoped to have all of these processes wound up soon to enable a launch in time for the Easter holidays.
FCTG’s gm product and marketing, Sue Garrett, drew a comparison with Mango’s success in operating low-cost flights to Zanzibar and said she believed there was great potential for an LCC to operate the four-hour route to Mauritius. She added that this could open up the destination to new segments of travellers. Sue said Mauritius was an extremely popular destination for South Africans, and the decision to launch flights, at a time when there were limited confirmed flight schedules available, was welcomed.
“We believe that a four-hour trip is still conceivable for a low-cost carrier option and while we may build a slightly different solution for this route compared with our domestic offering – such as the possible addition of one piece of checked baggage to the fare – it is our intention to price the destination in order to stimulate the market and attract new customers to the island,” said Kirby.
Gm of Travel Counsellors South Africa, Mladen Lukic, also welcomed the addition of a new entrant on the route. He said FlySafair had been extremely successful with the roll-out of its policies during COVID-19 and he was certain that its intention to launch a regional route had been well thought out.
