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South Africa’s new national airline, Lift, kicked off its flights on Thursday (December 10) as it aims to create space in an industry that has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The low-cost carrier will offer two routes as part of its initial offering: from Johannesburg to Cape Town and from Johannesburg to George.
The airline is owned by Johannesburg-based leasing company Global Airways and will operate three Airbus SE A320 aircraft on these routes.
Co-founder Gidon Novick said Bloomberg that the airline is looking to take advantage of falling start-up costs due to an oversupply of aircraft due to collapsing demand and low oil prices.
“The opportunity is here now to enter the consumer airline space, especially given the current environment,” he said. “Current cost structures are about 40% lower than it would have cost to start an airline before the coronavirus.”
The new airline’s staff are outfitted by online fashion retailer Superbalist and travelers enjoy a Vida e Caffè coffee on morning flights.
Afternoon flights include wine tastings from a selection of South Africa’s best wineries, which Novick says will provide valuable exposure to South Africa’s top wine farms.
Ticket prices start at R525, but Novick said he expects these prices to increase as demand for flights grows. “Prices will go up. Currently there is an excess supply in the market that drives prices down. That will change over time, ”he said.
Novick has said that the new airline does not plan to engage in a price war with other national airlines such as Kulula and FlySafair. “Lowering prices is not a sustainable strategy. It’s easy to do, but then everyone will lose money. “
He said that customer payments will be kept in a separate structure until after the flights are made, to prevent them from losing money in the event the airline goes bankrupt. This is a departure from global industry norms, he said.
“It is our basic belief that customers should not finance airlines and neither should governments,” he said. “No rational argument has been put forward that gives someone the confidence that it is necessary to put money into SAA that should have been invested in social projects and health care.”
Read: South Africa opens a new battle with unions over airline wages
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