Airline travel is picking up, according to the latest International Air Transport Association survey, which shows there has been a steady improvement in passenger numbers for the past three months.
The downside from the passengers’ point of view is, of course, that since airline costs are heavy with a combination of high fuel prices and taxes, a high passenger demand almost certainly means a rise in fares before very long. So if you are planning a long-haul flight it would be wise not to delay it.
Although British Airways has cut its basic economy fare between Cape Town and London to R1 600 in a special offer to mark the 80th anniversary of its first service to this country, the taxes and surcharges have brought the total cost of the return flight up to R6 414. The special anniversary offer, which began on April 19, is available until May 2, for outbound travel between May 7 and June 15.
BA’s seasonal pricing campaign to London, North America and Europe also ends on May 2 with outbound travel until December 31.
Eritrean Airlines
Eritrean Airlines is starting a service from Cape Town and Joburg to several destinations by way of its home airport in Asmara on May 7, with four flights a week.
The destinations include Rome, Frankfurt, Dubai, Cairo, Karachi, Lahore, Jeddah and Khartoum. We can hope for more airlines to come here between now and the start of the next holiday season.
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and our tourism authorities are hoping to attract more and the fact that Cape Town International Airport has won so many awards in recent years may help to bring them. It has just added three more. After being judged the best airport in Africa by the Airports Council International it has received the coveted Skytrax award for the same title – best in Africa and also the Skytrax award for the best in Africa for staff service.
Skytrax is an independent consultancy based in London and its annual awards are based on questionnaires filled in by passengers.
SAA
SAA is expanding its regional network and says it intends to increase the number of its international flights. Like most other airlines, it aims to acquire more new generation aircraft that use less fuel, but in the meantime it has extended the leases of some of the Boeing 737 800 aircraft it uses on domestic and regional routes.
It has recently acquired two Airbus A320s on a temporary lease and will receive the first of 20 customised new-generation A320s early next year. It has been talking to Boeing and Airbus about new aircraft for its long-haul fleet.
Miguel dos Santos, Boeing’s regional director for sales in southern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, who was talking to SAA last week, hopes that it will acquire the new Boeing 777 which he said would be suitable for the new direct flights to Beijing, and the Dreamliner for its most popular routes to Europe and South America.
Boeing, Airbus and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer are working together with several airlines to experiment with biofuels that could replace the jet fuel in use now. Several flights have already been made using biofuels together with the oil companies’ jet fuel. - Weekend Argus