Safair on Wednesday said it would soon start selling tickets for FlySafair flights after it secured a licence to operate a scheduled passenger low-cost domestic air service.
The Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC) granted Safair – an aviation expert currently operating licensed unscheduled international and domestic flights – a domestic scheduled air service licence, Safair CEO Dave Andrew announced in a statement.
The company, which was currently evaluating its options for the relaunch of FlySafair, had initially planned to extend its reach further into South Africa’s domestic aviation market after the first ASLC approval in August 2013.
The group, at the time, aimed to offer up to ten flights a day between Johannesburg and Cape Town, using two Boeing 737-400 aircraft.
However, the operations were halted after two undisclosed competitors brought an urgent application to interdict the new low-cost airline based on it not meeting the 75% domestic ownership requirements.
Safair restructured the FlySafair shareholding, shedding the “problem” shareholding and giving South African employees a 25.14% stake in the company.
“We are eager to provide South Africans with an alternate low-cost airline that is dedicated to offering competitive and sustainable fares between Johannesburg and Cape Town,” concluded Andrew.