South African low-cost carrier (LCC) FlySafair, which started operations in October last year, has announced that it is upgrading its fleet with three new-generation Boeing 737-800 airliners. Further, along with the new aircraft, the airline will be introducing a new livery and new, lightweight, slimline seats, on all its aircraft. It will also start flying to two new destinations in October.

The new aircraft were previously leased by the South African Airways (SAA) group (including LCC Mango). They are currently undergoing major maintenance before entering service with FlySafair, which will happen during October and November. At the moment, the airline operates five 737-400 aircraft.

The new seats will first be installed on a 737-400. “These are much lighter and they have fewer moving parts,” reported FlySafair CEO Elmar Conradie at a recent press conference at OR Tambo International Airport, east of Johannesburg. “They are lighter in weight, so they save fuel. They have fewer parts, so there is less maintenance, which is good for us.”

New-generation 737s, like the -800, offer greater fuel efficiency over earlier models, like the –400. To be as competitive as possible with its -400 airliners, FlySafair lightened them as much as possible, removing unnecessary fittings, such as ovens and air stairs. Less weight means less fuel is burned.

“We can offer a superior product,” he said. “The introduction of the -800s basically means an increase in [our] capacity. Our next focus is on the trade and corporates [passenger markets]. “Our focus until now was on [the] leisure [market]. The reason for that was the lack of a [more comprehensive] route network. Now we have that route network, so we can go for [the] corporates [market].”

Hitherto, the airline has linked Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and George. In October, it will add Durban and East London (from both Cape Town and Johannesburg in each case). “We take on-time performance very seriously,” he stressed. “You want boring reliability!”

The new 737-800s will increase the airline’s fleet to eight aircraft, of which five will be needed to operate the route network. “The plan now would be to phase the -400s out,” he stated. “In our business model, they’ve got about one year left.” The LCC intends to operate only one type and version of airliner to reduce costs.

“We’d like to think that lower fares stimulate the market. I think the lower fares definitely do stimulate the market,” he affirmed. “Everything that we have done until now has exceeded our expectations – hence, the introduction of the -800s.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for the local aviation industry,” he asserted. “I don’t think we’ve had such competition before – four low-cost carriers.” (Conradie listed them as FlySafair; Kulula, part of the Comair group; Mango, part of the SAA group; and recent start-up Skywise.) The result was increased capacity on the country’s domestic air routes. The low-cost airline business is 100% about volumes.”

FlySafair is a new brand within a well-established company, Safair Operations. When it launched, it had 70 employees assigned full-time to the LCC. Today, that figure is about 280. While the LCC has been operating for less than a year, its parent is some 50 years old. Thus, FlySafair’s airliners are maintained by Safair Operations, which has long experience with 737s, in both passenger and freight operations. (Hence, the LCC’s choice of airliner for its operations.) Consequently, passenger operations are not new to Safair, although they were usually operated on behalf of other airlines, acting as backups for those other operators. “We basically had all the ingredients to start a low-cost airline,” he told Engineering News. “Our focus at this stage is to get the -800s in service and start operating them.”

“The biggest challenge so far had just been to get our name out there!” stated Conradie. “In terms of operations, because we had this back- ground experience, that wasn’t difficult. Going forward, the biggest challenge will be to keep to the LCC model, with the lowest fares.”