The new aircraft will be deployed, one at a time, at the end of October and November across Mango's existing network.
Nico Bezuidenhout, CEO at Mango, says that new routes are in the offing, but likely during the next 6-8 months. "The domestic market is near saturation in terms of carriers while few routes remain available that we do not operate already." He adds that the airline is in the process of reviewing several regional destinations at this time with the likelihood of another East African seaboard route. "Domestically we are reviewing options too, but at present it makes competitive sense to bulk up on our existing schedule."
Mango presently operates more than 40 flights daily between most of South Africa's major centres as well as twice weekly flights between Johannesburg and Zanzibar.
Mango's approach to growth has been consistently prudent, says Bezuidenhout. "In a market where capacity and demand are out of sync and competition extreme, our capacity discipline, investment in continual research and strong business case considerations have paid dividends." Since its launch in 2006, Mango has been consistently profitable in six out of seven full fiscals completed.
Bezuidenhout also expects another start-up to enter the market before mid-2015. "The introduction of a second new airline in the domestic market will exhaust the sector," he says. "The market has contracted substantially since 2008 and, with margins under pressure again this year, it is a fact that the sector cannot sustain more capacity on obviously popular routes such as Johannesburg Cape Town and Johannesburg Durban." He adds that while below cost fares feed airline launches, it would be impossible to sustain.
