Swazi Observer

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SA AIRLINES KEEN ON PROVIDING DIRECT FLIGHTS TO CAPE TOWN, DURBAN, HARARE

By Hlengiwe Ndlovu | 2018-02-20

THE face of Swaziland’s air travel space could soon be changed for more diversity as the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) has engaged several South African airlines which have expressed willingness to provide direct flights from the country to Durban, Cape Town and Harare.

SWACAA Chief Executive Officer Solomon Dube yesterday said they had engaged in talks with the South African airlines after a study conducted by German based experts Lufthansa Consulting showed that these routes have great business potential.

He did not reveal the airlines engaged by SWACAA pending long-winding formalities which the Authority must first undertake with government and the airlines for the proposed routes to come to fruition.

Dube said the Lufthansa study had clearly revealed travelling trends of people who leave the country and take connecting flights as it showed that there is a substantial traffic of travellers who from Johannesburg connect to Harare, Cape Town and Durban.

He said the idea of direct flights would come as a great relief to travellers whilst also providing much needed diversity in the country’s airline industry.

SWACAA has not yet finalised talks with the airlines yet, as delays emanating from signing agreements and other critical formalities such as getting government buy-in in terms of providing a financial cushion to the airlines in case business does not go well at first, must be addressed.

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Dube further explained that the airlines which have been engaged want security before fully committing themselves to Swaziland where the Authority would commit to cushion potential costs such as top-up payments for flights that may not be fully booked.

Since the proposed routes have not been explored before, the airlines are also seeking commitment from SWACAA to provide a 100 per cent subvention in the first year of operations, 75 per cent in the second and about 40 per cent in the third year.

“This subvention would, however, be subject to an audit because one of its conditions would be that SWACAA cushions costs in the case of flights that were not fully booked,” he said.

Lufthansa consulting state in a company website that they jointly contacted airlines with SWACAA in the region with a view to opening new routes as well as introducing new frequencies on the Johannesburg route and launching a link to an African hub.

The consultants also noted that at present, air traffic in SADC region is concentrated on routes to/from Johannesburg and there is a lack of services to other destinations.

“This highlights the need for improved air travel links to South-Eastern Africa”.

The new route proposal comes at a time when Swaziland became one of the first 23 African Union countries to sign the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), an agreement expected to liberalise the African airspace.

SWACAA Marketing and Communications Director Sabelo Dlamini had explained earlier to this publication that SAATN would eliminate restrictions in airline access in between African states.

“The objective is to make air travel in between African states easier and cheaper.

“This, therefore, means all African states, including Swaziland, will benefit from airlines that are seeing a business case in the marketing as airlines will no longer have to worry about many legal barriers that existed and made it difficult for them to operate,” he had said.

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