| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 01/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 47 |
| Copyright: Other |
Carriers plot a course for African additions
BA and Virgin are vying for extra slots to Cape TownRoute review by Linsey Mcneill
Airlines seek further regional gains
EXTRA flights to Africa are likely to be available from later this year as British Airways is pushing several governments on the continent to give it permission to step up its services.The airline is keen to put on additional flights to a number of destinations, including South Africa and Nigeria, while it also wants to commence services to countries like Angola on the southwest coast.
A BA spokesman said: “There are certain countries we would like to move into, and although we don’t have a start date for new services, hopefully we will be able to fly to new destinations later this year.”
In South Africa, BA and rival Virgin Atlantic are both keen to add services to Cape Town, which is seeing a rise in both business and leisure traffic.
“There is such heavily constrained capacity to Cape Town that our flights are always full and there is always more demand than seats,” said the BA spokesman.
Bilateral talks between the British and South African governments are expected to lead to two additional frequencies being offered to UK carriers later this year.
At the moment, BA offers six flights a week between Heathrow and Cape Town and Virgin has been operating two flights per week on the route since February. Virgin is being forced to hand one of its frequencies over to BA though after BAwon a Civil Aviation Authority appeal last month.
BA had not started operating the additional flight when Travel Weekly went to press but the airline’s spokesman said it was due to take over the service from Virgin very soon.
“This will give us a daily service to Cape Town but we are keen to boost our frequency even further,” he added. “We will fight hard for the extra services that we think will be up for grabs later this year.”
South African Airways, which has nine flights a week between Heathrow and Cape Town in addition to 13 flights between Heathrow and Johannesburg, said it didn’t haveany plans to increase its service.
Marketing manager for the UK and Ireland Russel Barlow-Jones said: “At the moment we think there is enough capacity between the UK and South Africa.
“As well as BA, Virgin and South African Airways offering direct flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, we have all the fifth-freedom carriers offering services via mainland Europe.”
He said additional services would lead to lower air fares, which are already coming down due to an initiative by the South African Tourist Board to promote the country as an affordable holiday destination.
“At the moment we have a special offer of £499 which includes flights and three nights’ accommodation in a five-star hotel,” said Barlow-Jones. “Virgin and BA also have offers, so there is no need right now for more competition.”
Consolidator Travel 2 said it expected more special offers to South Africa later this year but air product director David Gibbs predicted slight increases in air fares to other destinations in Africa.
“Africa wide we do not anticipate major price fluctuations but the increase in fuel costs may prompt small rises as the year progresses,” he added.
sample product
Sample fares to Africa
Route Airline Return Fare
Heathrow- South African £488 net + tax
Cape Town Airways
Gatwick- Johannesburg Air Gabon £349 net + tax
Heathrow-Johannesburg South African £436 net + tax
Airways
Manchester-Johannesburg Air France £438 gross + tax
Heathrow-Nairobi Kenya Airways £410 gross + tax
Heathrow- Kenya Airways £570 gross + tax
Mombasa
Heathrow- Air Namibia £396 net + tax
Windhoek
Heathrow- Air France £475 net + tax
Gabarone
Heathrow/ Air France £284 gross + tax
Manchester-Lagos
Heathrow/ Lufthansa £445 gross + tax
Manchester-Accra
Cape Town: a high-capacity destination