Mango palms Feather Awards in 3 of 4 ACSA airports it uses

"Mango is a spirited collective of passionate individuals," says CEO Nico Bezuidenhout, "and recognition such as this inspires everyone to get it right, more of the time." This is the third year out of five that the carrier has won at Cape Town International and the second at OR Tambo International. It is Mango's second award in Bloemfontein, too.

"Service and on-time performance are two of the mainstays of our business. I am pleased that not only does Mango remain the most on time domestic airline, across a three year aggregate, but our service levels match."

Ready to fly you away

The airline is geared to welcome over 130 000 holiday makers on board its aircraft during the December holiday season. "Bookings are looking healthy," says Bezuidenhout, who expects Mango to average a 90% load factor across its network during December. "South Africans are still travelling, and the annual coastal run has already commenced." He says that the travel period, or amount of destination time spent between flights seems similar to 2010 patterns. "While holidays still seem to be approximately 5 days shorter on average than, say in 2009, it is encouraging to note that the market remains positive."

Bezuidenhout says that he is particularly encouraged by the volume of bookings given the challenging trading environment. "New market players have added substantial capacity into an already saturated market," he says, "and coupled with sustained recessionary economic circumstance December's aviation numbers will be positive."

In a market where all airlines taste like chicken, Mango has to taste like beef. "Price sensitivity allows for very little differentiation between airlines," he says, "our goal is to lead through on-time performance, higher service levels and continued innovation.