Chief operating officer, Gary Webb, announced that, due to exceptional demand for flights during December, the airline had added more flights within the "golden triangle" - Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban - to its already busy schedule. He encouraged those who had not yet booked flights to visit www.flyvelvetsky.com to check when and on what routes flights had been added.
On peak days such as 22 December, three additional flights have been added along the Cape Town / Durban route. There will be another three flights on 23 December on both the Cape Town / Johannesburg and Cape Town / Durban routes. Six flights spread across all three routes have been added on 27 December.
These extra flights are over and above the additional flights that resulted from the addition of a Durban / Port Elizabeth / Cape Town route in November. Velvet Sky had already increased its flight frequency between Johannesburg and Cape Town to seven flights daily on peak days and introduced a Durban overnight aircraft. The airline has already doubled flights on Saturdays and improved some slot allocations ahead of the busy summer holiday period.
Webb pointed out that tough times meant South Africans had opted for domestic destinations this holiday season, placing additional pressure on domestic airlines. Added to this, travellers who have up until now used road travel to reach their destinations had decided to try flying for the first time. "We believe that our fares are competitive enough to make flying an option. Given the high price of petrol and toll fees, air travel offers a value-for-money alternative. Given the carnage on our roads over the festive season, this is also a far safer choice."
Velvet Sky's decision to put in place additional flights from Durban this weekend was also a response to growing demand following the end of COP17. As Terence Delomoney, general manager at Durban's King Shaka airport, pointed out: "Velvet Sky went out of its way to increase its flights over this period to accommodate our travellers. This period has been a slightly busier one with Cop 17 taking place. Now that the busy holiday season is upon us, we are seeing the result of the steady growth in air travel in South Africa. We are definitely seeing more first time flyers this festive season."
