Mango is looking at launching a service to Mauritius in the next 12 months. Kilimanjaro is also in the pipeline.
Mango CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, told Tourism Update on the side lines of the Routes 2015 aviation conference, which was held in Durban from September 19 to 21, that the airline was looking to further develop its leisure routes into Africa after the success of its Zanzibar route. “Our services into Tanzania are highly lucrative; it’s a good market for us,” he said.
One of the main reasons Mango is looking to expand beyond South Africa’s borders, is because of the constrained SA market. There was too much capacity in the South African domestic market, said Bezuidenhout. “Something will have to give.” He predicts the exit of some LCCs. “There will be further market consolidation. There is no doubt there’s inefficient capacity in the market to sustain the amount of LCCs operating in the market. In the South African short-haul space we’ve had ten entries and exits in terms of new carriers in the last decade, and more will exit soon.”
Despite this, Mango would continue to add capacity in the domestic market, Bezuidenhout said, adding that the South African domestic market was still, by far, the biggest market on the African continent.
Mango and SAA had managed to grow market share in a market that wasn’t growing, Bezuidenhout said. “There are specific city pairs in our country where our entry has stimulated growth, doubling the number of travellers.” Mango, in particular, had captured some travellers through its distribution channels in retail stores, he said.
Mango had seen fast-paced growth over the past few years, he added. “Last year we grew about 12%, and for the next three to five years, I foresee an average rate of growth of about 20%.”
Mango will continue to focus primarily on the leisure segment of the South African market. “Price-sensitive business travellers tend to follow once the route is established and we have built up our service,” said Bezuidenhout, adding it was important for Mango to take care not to cannibalise parent company, SAA.
