New airline introduced on the Cape Town Windhoek route
Barely six months after FlyAfrica disappeared from Namibian skies, yet another budget airline makes its own entrance to the market, in the form of Fly Blue Crane airliner.
The airline received approval from South African and Namibian authorities to launch services between Cape Town and Windhoek. The airline took to the skies from its Johannesburg hub in September 2015 and will launch its inaugural return flights between the two cities in May. Exact flight schedules on the route will be released soon. Fly Blue Crane chief Commercial Officer, Theunis Potgieter said the addition of the new route is in line with the airline’s regional ambitions that were articulated at the time of its launch last year, with more southern African destinations to be considered as the airline grows.
“We are delighted to have got the green light to service this new route. Our flights will complement services that are currently being offered between the two cities by existing players in the market. We aim to deliver to our customers on this route high on-time performance, consistent service excellence, advanced online technologies that make the booking and travel process fuss-free, and highly competitive fares,” he said.
“The time was right for us to introduce this route in the light of the growing tourism and business ties between the two countries, as well as the fact that many people travelling to the region want to combine South Africa and Namibia. Our aim in the coming years is to make air travel an altogether better, convenient and more rewarding experience in the entire Southern Africa sub-region,” Potgieter added. Fly Blue Crane launched its inaugural flights from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on 01 September last year. It offers cargo services on all its flights to Kimberley and Bloemfontein, as well as between Kimberley and Cape Town, and between Bloemfontein and Cape Town. The airline operates modern and fuel-efficient 50-seater Embraer Regional Jet 145 (ERJ) aircraft in a single class configuration. It uses the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code 7B.
