Sunair: industry responds

AS of late yesterday, TNN was still struggling to get hold of anyone from Sunair to determine the current situation following the cancellation of all the airline’s flights between Johannesburg’s Lanseria Airport and Cape Town International. Representatives of Lanseria Airport and Sunair were locked behind closed doors for several hours yesterday trying to determine a way forward. It is understood the airline owes the airport several million rand. TNN sought to get comment from key industry players, including the Department of Transport (DoT); Iata (International Air Transport Association) as well as AASA (Airline Association of Southern Africa). The manager of aviation at DoT, Godfrey Selebi said he was not privy to all the details. Given the track record of domestic carriers which have gone bust in South Africa in the last few years (Phoenix, Flitestar, Sunair etc), the DoT’s comment was a non-committal “no comment”. Iata’s regional manager for southern Africa, Hans de Lange said it was always sad when a carrier went under. “There is a possibility that Sunair could have been a victim of the current air price war. However, we know there was some controversy surrounding the airline’s finances for quite some time.” Meanwhile, AASA’s ceo, John Morisson said Sunair was not a member of the association but that the situation did not bode well for the aviation industry in the country in general. “Firstly, the Johannesburg to Cape Town route is served well so I do not believe Sunair’s suspension of services will have an impact on capacity on the route, especially given the entry into the market of 1Time.” Morrison also said that Sunair’s current difficulties could perhaps have been attributed to the fact that it targeted a niche market. “Perhaps theirs was not the right business model, given the fact that worldwide there seems to be a move towards low cost services,” he added. (Miguel de Sousa)