The founders of 1time have applied to the Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC) for a licence to launch a new low-cost airline.
An application by Cabolar (Pty) Ltd. Skywise was published on October 5 on Government Notice no. 714 and was reportedly reviewed on November 7. It is believed that the airline will, however, not operate under this name.
Meanwhile, Erik Venter, CEO of Comair, told Tourism Update that he was aware of the application brought by Rodney James  through the Government Gazette but said that this process could take as long as a year to complete.
“Any new entrant is going to have a tough time in the current trading conditions, as there is still no shortage of capacity and the operating costs are high. The benchmark for competitive aircraft has also been raised dramatically, with both remaining low-cost carriers now operating B737-800s in order to limit the impact of the high fuel price,” said Venter.
He added, however, that, as seen with Velvet Sky, there was “always someone keen to enter the market, even in the most challenging circumstances”.
Last week, however, Nico Bezuidenhout, Mango CEO, said that he would not be surprised if by this week Friday it would be “back to the seven airline situation”.
Mango spokesperson, Hein Kaiser, added that consumers would be the ultimate beneficiary of any competitive activity in the market.