Mango Airlines is to add two new Boeing 737-800s to its fleet this year, with new routes being reviewed for the East African seaboard.
CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, said: “The domestic market is near saturation in terms of carriers while few routes remain available that we do not operate already.” He said the airline was in the process of reviewing several regional destinations, with the likelihood of another East African seaboard route. “Domestically we are reviewing options too but at present it makes competitive sense to bulk up on our existing schedule.” 
The airline will operate 10 aircraft between eight airports, which represents capacity growth of 150% and network growth of 100% since its launch eight years ago. The new aircraft will be deployed at the end of October and November respectively across Mango’s existing network. 
“In a market where capacity and demand are out of sync and competition extreme, our capacity discipline, investment in continual research and strong business case considerations, have paid dividends.” Since its launch in 2006, Mango has been consistently profitable in six of the seven full fiscals completed. Mango now carries more than 200 000 passengers every month. 
Bezuidenhout also expects another start-up to enter the market before mid-2015. “The introduction of a second new airline in the domestic market will exhaust the sector,” he says. “The market has contracted substantially since 2008 and, with margins under pressure again this year, it is a fact that the sector cannot sustain more capacity on obviously popular routes such as Johannesburg-Cape Town and Johannesburg-Durban.” 
While below-cost fares feed airline launches, they will be impossible to sustain, he says. “The environment pre the global financial crisis proved far more conducive to airline start-ups.
“Today, given capital scarcity and increased competition, an investment proportionately greater than that required a couple of years ago may be necessary to sustain an airline well beyond its launch. Even with the lowest cost base in the industry, Mango’s consistent profit history was not easily achieved.”
Mango presently operates more than 40 flights daily between most of SA’s major centres as well as twice-weekly flights between Johannesburg and Zanzibar.