Former SAA and SA Express CEO Siza Mzimela and ex SAA executives Theunis Potgieter and Jermoe Simelane have joined the startup airlines race in South Africa with their bid to launch a new low cost carrier in SA: Fly Blue Crane. Other hopefuls include 1time follow up airline Skywise and FlySafair, with East African airline fastjet still keen on expanding their routes footprint in South Africa as well.
There are some serious barriers to entry into the domestic flights market; most notably resistance from existing and more established airlines in South Africa. Skywise’s bid to launch an airline encountered a major setback when the Department of Transport refused to renew their originally issued Air Service License on grounds that no tangible progress towards a launch had been made in a year. FlySafair and Skywise both faced some serious opposition from the likes of Comair on grounds of foreign ownership issues and non-compliance with South African airline ownership regulations. Fastjet launched a very aggressive bid to take over the defunct 1Time flight routes, but were thwarted by the efforts of South Africa’s largest airlines.
The Fly Blue Crane team has applied for an Air Services License for a subsidiary of Blue Crane Aviation under the working title Fly Blue Crane.
According to industry media reports, Blue Crane Aviation spokesperson Rich Mkhondo confirmed that the license application has been submitted to the Ministry of Transport, but that the airline’s positioning was still a work in progress.
Keep an eye on the SA Airlines blog for more information regarding the progress of Fly Blue Crane’s application and potential launch dates.