FlySafair will temporarily withdraw its Cape Town-George route from August 23 and will resume services on December 10 in time for the busy holiday season. However, it will increase frequencies on other routes to meet high demand.
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FlySafair is adjusting its schedules to reduce capacity during low months and increase capacity during high-demand periods as it strives to keep selling tickets from R499.
“The plan is to work against historic trends to adjust the route frequency. Obviously we aim to avoid cancelling scheduled flights at all costs but regrettably in implementing this approach we will need to release some flights between George and Cape Town,” says Elmar Conradie, CEO of FlySafair.
The airline says flights between George and Cape Town are very popular during summer months, and operations on these routes saw an increase in demand of 130% in the first six months.
Demand has, however, decreased dramatically during the winter months. “It does not make business sense for us to continue operations during the winter months if we want to manage our costs and continue to provide our passengers with the lowest fares in the market,” adds Conradie.
The airline will contact affected customers via email and SMS in the next few days to arrange refunds.
“If our aircraft are only half full, we start to operate at a loss, which prevents us from maintaining our low fares that start at just R499. Adjusting route frequency is a strategic business decision that allows us to continue to offer low fares to all South Africans,” says Conradie.
