Would more capacity drop JNB-GRJ fares?

AGENTS have questioned
whether more capacity is
needed on the JohannesburgGeorge
route to drive airfares
down.
One agent wrote to TNW to
express discontent with the
high airfares on this route,
particularly over the December/
January period.
“Although we understand
it’s peak season and demand
is high, the fares that many
carriers open with are
somewhat inhibiting and kind
of lowering demand,” the agent
said.
Other agents agreed that
fares to George were extremely
high. “It is easier to find a
cheaper fare on more popular
routes such as JohannesburgCape
Town or JohannesburgDurban
over the December
period because the airfares to
George are so high,” said
Umvuselelo Tours and Travel
md, Jan Jenkins.
Md of Destination Express,
Busi Nhlapo added that some
of her corporate clients were
actually opting to drive to
George rather than fly to avoid
paying the high fares.
However, one agent reasoned
that fares to George were
high because there were not
many airlines flying the route,
thus there was not much
competition in terms of pricing.
“Those carriers flying to
George can afford to hike their
fares, while those flying the
more popular routes have to
compete for price because
there is more capacity on those
routes,” the agent suggested.
British Airways (operated by
Comair) and kulula.com head
of marketing, Shaun Pozyn,
agreed that fares were cheaper
on more popular routes due
to an increase in capacity on
those routes, coupled with the
fact that kulula.com operates
flights out of Lanseria to both
Durban and Cape Town.
As Kirby Gordon, vp of
sales and distribution at
FlySafair, explained: “Most
carriers will be flying to George
from Johannesburg once,
maybe twice, daily but from
Johannesburg to Cape Town
or Durban there could be a
dozen flights per airline when
one factors in OR Tambo
International Airport and
Lanseria International Airport.”
The agents’ complaints
signalled that there could be
an opportunity to add capacity
on these routes over this
period, which was something
FlySafair was looking into, Kirby
noted.
He added that demand for
flights to George had increased
significantly. “I have no doubt
that we’ll see more flights
added there as the year
progresses.”
Meanwhile Hein Kaiser,
Mango spokesperson,
defended the high fares on this
route, arguing that demand
was seasonal, coupled with
George’s reputation primarily as
a leisure destination, resulting
in fares inevitably increasing
over peak periods.