Mango launches new route
Mango has announced that it will launch a new route between Lanseria and Durban with two initial daily return flights in October. The airline will also be adding an additional early morning flight from Cape Town to Lanseria. The new route and schedule will be effective from 15 October with flights on sale from across al distribution channels.
A launch fare of R379 between Lanseria and Durban is available (limited seats) until 14 September for travel between 15 October 2015 and 30 November 2015.
"Mango is geared for further growth," says Mango spokesperson Hein Kaiser. This, despite tougher competition and a challenging domestic market. "While trading conditions remain tough and some competitors have had to adopt a flexible schedule as a consequence, our average load factors have shown that there remains opportunity for business development, in particular our expansion out of Lanseria." Over the past six months the airline has maintained an average 82% load factor across its network with an average of 1,500 flights and more than 220,000 guests carried every month.
Kaiser says that the addition of the Lanseria-Durban route and the additional Cape Town-Lanseria frequency will see the airline up its asset utilisation further. "A fundamental cornerstone of low-cost aviation is asset utilisation; if you are not flying, you are not earning. Mango holds the lowest cost base in the domestic market and additional frequencies and network expansion further reduces aggregate input costs." The carrier plans to add additional aircraft to its schedule later this year with more growth and fleet additions expected during the next two years.
The new Lanseria Durban route will see Mango operate an initial twice-daily service in the mornings and late afternoons while a fourth early morning frequency between Cape Town and Lanseria has been added. "Demand at Lanseria has shown welcome growth over the past 24 months with well performing load factors across the schedule and we expect the additional Cape Town flight as well as the new Durban route to mirror performance at Lanseria and further stimulate growth," says Kaiser.
The new Lanseria Durban schedule is as follows:
Lanseria to Durban departing 8.55am and 6.20pm
Durban to Lanseria departing 7.50am and 4.30pm
The new Cape Town to Lanseria schedule sees the additional flight depart from Cape Town at 6.10am.
