"Our Johannesburg-Port Elizabeth route has proven very successful during its first 16 months of operation," said CEO Nico Bezuidenhout. Load factors have never dipped below 80% and demand has continued to grow. "The Eastern Cape is a growth area for the business and Mango has been well received by the community, which we appreciate." The additional frequencies will service demand identified after a period of research and Bezuidenhout expects that the new schedule will continue to stimulate demand.
Last year, Mango further invested into the Garden Route with its current four weekly frequencies between Johannesburg and George. "Our youngest route has also been performing well with positive growth fuelling our enthusiasm of the area." Bezuidenhout believes that Mango's price competitive fares, as well as its wide variety of payment methods, adds to its attractive value proposition. "Mango is the only airline in the world where store charge cards can purchase flights (Edgars, Jet) and our recent addition of accepting Voyager Miles as currency online has made it even easier to fly with us." Voyager Miles may be used in full or combined with other payment methods to purchase flights.
Mango celebrates its eighth year of flight in 2014 and its sixth profitable, full fiscal. "Mango has become a valuable asset for South Africans at both ends of the value chain," said Bezuidenhout. "Not only do we continue to pursue innovation in air travel at market competitive prices, but the airline serves as a successful national asset where profitability remains a priority along with the up and downstream economic benefit that air services provide." It is estimated that as a consequence of doing business, an airline stimulates up to 100 direct and indirect employment opportunities when it commences operations to a new destination. Air travel stimulates economic activity and, ergo, increased spend in a destination city.
To date, Mango has carried more than 200 000 South Africans to and from Port Elizabeth and presently operates four weekly return flights between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and seven returns between Joburg and Port Elizabeth. The new schedule will be on sale from next week and will have eight directional sectors added.
