Rainbow Airlines, which was set to launch commercial flights yesterday (August 27) has had to postpone its official launch due to issues relating to the airline obtaining the Foreign Operator’s Permit from the Department of Transport. The airline plans to fly daily between Harare and Johannesburg.
On July 29, Andries Ntjane, Deputy Director of Licensing and Permits at the Department of Transport, told Tourism Update that the Department had accepted Rainbow’s application for designation to fly to South Africa, however the new airline had not yet been granted – or even applied for – a Foreign Operator’s Permit.
However, the airline’s administration manager Melody Sanhanga told Tourism Update that the application for the FOP has been concluded “but there was a slight change in procedure with regards to the application processes relating to airport security, procurement and aircraft agreements.”
“We do not have a new launch date as yet as we are waiting to hear back from the Department regarding our FOP. We expect to hear from them today,” she said on Thursday.
Sanhanga said bookings had not opened prior to the initial August 27 launch date as the airline was still awaiting word on its FOP application. “This is also why we did not do much marketing,” she said. “We wanted to be able to say ‘this is what we are offering and it starts on this day,’” she said.
The delay will also push back the launch of the Harare – Victoria Falls – Cape Town route, Sanhanga said. “It was originally planned for two months down the line and we already have permission to fly the route. It was just a matter of getting Harare-Johannesburg off the ground,” she said.
Sanhanga said Rainbow Airlines will be a low cost airline complimenting Air Zimbabwe rather than competing with it. “We will not be cannibalistic in our competitiveness with the national airline. It’s simply about putting Zimbabwe’s economy first and having more Zimbabwean airlines to choose from.”
Rainbow Airlines will be the fifth airline to fly between Harare and Johannesburg, following Comair BA, SAA, flyafrica and Air Zimbabwe.
