Skywise plans to take off, again

LOW-COST carrier, Skywise,
plans to relaunch flights in
the first week of October.
The airline was currently
looking at injecting more
capital into the company,
Skywise co-chairman,
Javed Malik, told TNW.
“At the moment we are
in serious negotiations
with two local investors,”
Javed said, adding that
transactions are expected
to be finalised at the end
of June. He said the airline
would announce its new
flight schedule at a media
briefing to be held at the
end of July.
Thousands of passengers
were left stranded when
the airline was grounded
in December last year
because of unpaid airport
charges owed to Acsa and
ATNS (see TNW December
9, 2015).
Acsa confirmed to TNW
that the suspension of
Skywise from operating
at its airports remained
unchanged.
Javed said the matter
was sub judice but
confirmed the affair “was
still in the process of
negotiation”.
The airline kicked off
legal proceedings in
December when it served
Acsa with a summons
alleging a breach of
contract with Skywise.
When asked what the
airline’s strategy was to
engage the trade and
win back the trust of
customers, Javid told
TNW there was none. “A
low-cost carrier doesn’t
need travel agents,” he
said, adding that agents
were bound by commercial
interests to legacy airlines.
“Skywise can’t afford
to pay commissions
to agents.”
However, Javed believes
the airline will re-enter
the market without
hassle as it has the
support of the consumer.
“We’ve refunded 95% of
passengers.”