ZIMBABWEAN carrier, Rainbow
Airlines, plans to enter SA
skies with flights from Harare to
Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The JNB-HRE service will launch in
the last week of February and the
thrice-weekly CPT-HRE service in the
following months.
Ed Berry, ceo of Rainbow Airlines,
says it will start with three flights a
week to Johannesburg and aims to
increase the service to twice-daily,
excluding Saturdays. The flights will
initially operate on Wednesdays,
Fridays and Sundays, departing
Harare at 08h00 and arriving in
Johannesburg at 09h40. The return
flight will depart Johannesburg
at 19h00 and arrive in Harare at
20h40.
The airline also launched a weekly
flight between Harare and Victoria
Falls on January 25. On Saturdays,
flight RA308 departs Harare at
09h00 and arrives at Victoria Falls
at 10h00. Return flight RA317
departs Victoria Falls at 17h00 and
arrives in Harare at 18h00.
Initially, Rainbow was expected to
commence the Johannesburg flights
on January 25 but an industry.
insider told TNW that as
the airline had not paid
guarantees to OR Tambo
International Airport, the
flights could not launch.
But Ed says the
guarantees have been paid
and the airline has not yet
finalised its slot times,
which he hopes to have
confirmed this week.
He says the airline
is in possession of a
valid Foreign Operator
Permit, which needs to be
amended as it intends to
use a different aircraft on
the Johannesburg-Harare
service than the one initially
planned.
The route will be operated
by a Bombardier CRJ100
with 50 seats, which the
airline is leasing from
CemAir.
In 2015, the Department
of Transport said it had
accepted Rainbow Airlines’
application for designation
to fly to South Africa,
but that the airline had
not applied for a Foreign
Operator Permit (see TNW
August 19, 2015).
Flights are currently
only available for booking
through Rainbow’s website,
but Ed says the airline
intends to add its
inventory to the GDS in
the future.
