New long-haul, no-frills flights on the cards

BUDGET-CONSCIOUS
travellers could be in for a
treat if low-cost carrier, WOW
Air, which is eyeing potential
new direct, long-haul routes,
starts operations to South
Africa. The Icelandic, no-frills
airline, recently announced
that it would launch
flights as soon as 2018
to destinations in Africa.
There’s a high possibility its
base for these flights would
be London.
WOW plans to launch
its second long-haul base
next year but the airline’s
founder and ceo, Skúli
Mogensen, has yet to
announce the location.
He says London is in the
running. He adds that
new high-tech and fuelefficient
aircraft are a
major contributor to the
airline’s potential route
expansion. “There is a
great opportunity with the
arrival of new aircraft – the
A320neo, the A321neoLR,
and the A330neo. The
timing is perfect for us
to expand,” says Skúli.
“The real winner will be
the consumer. Fares will
fall, there will be better
aircraft with more innovative
technology.”
June Crawford, ceo
of Board of Airline
Representatives South
Africa, says while Africa is
yet to see a low-cost carrier
coming to the continent,
she believes fastjet is an
example of a carrier that
could ultimately get long
haul right. “They have
the right aircraft and are
economical.” She believes
there would be demand for
a reliable and safe low-cost
carrier into Africa. “If the
fares are good there would
definitely be interest.”
Agents, however, seem
less optimistic. “Personally,
I wouldn’t choose a lowcost
carrier for long-haul
flights and neither would my
clients as the Gulf carriers
have excellent rates to
the UK and Europe,” says
Yumna Kharodia, md of
Sweet Life Travel. “For short
distances domestically and
within Africa, people are
still adventurous and would
consider low-cost carriers,
but for long distance they
look for aircraft types,
reliability of airline etc,”
she says.
Tracy Teichmann,
manager of SureTravel, says
while there is certainly a
demand for lower fares on
the London-Johannesburg
direct route she isn’t
convinced a low-cost carrier
is the answer. She says the
fares will have to be dirt
cheap and presumes low
cost will mean paying high
fees for checked baggage,
preferred seating, priority
boarding and maybe even
paying for meals on board
and headsets. “Pretty soon
the carrier will be dubbed
‘that cheap-skate’ airline
that pretends to have low
fares and makes you freeze
and starve for 11 hours and
the only entertainment is to
listen to your iPod until the
battery dies.”