Skywise, the nascent South African LCC run by former 1Time (T6) executives, was on Monday its air service licence by the South African Air Services Licensing Council. The new airline is now in the process of acquiring its AOC (air operator certificate) from the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) with Johannesburg - Cape town ops due to launch in H2 of this year. |
| A proposal for Skywise's branding (NGartland) |
It is understood that Skywise has already recruited management staff, office space in Cape Town and has finalised its branding, with the rest of its team to be recruited once the launch date is confirmed.
With a fleet of leased Boeing 737-300s, the airline aims to reduce fares in South Africa by 20%, through the introduction of "cheap seats".
According to Skywise Finance Director and former Founding Director of 1time, Glenn Orsmond:
There was "an oversupply of expensive seats. If you bring down prices you will find the demand. 1time has taken 2-million seats out of the market so there is a massive shortage of cheap seats."
Source [BusinessDay Live]
How competitive their choice of 737-300s is, will show in the long run,
as fellow carrier Comair moves to replace their fleet of Boeing
737-300s/400s, deemed not to be cost effective in today's world of
$100+/barrel oil prices. In fact, the demise of 1Time itself was partly blamed on an ageing inefficient fleet.
