Inquiry launched into PIA A310 engine failure
22nd November 2012
Plans are underway to launch a new budget airline in South Africa. Standby Travel is the brainchild of Danie Coetzee, who has asked parliament for funds to start the new public airline.
The airline, which would be aimed at low-income earners, would be based on a “virtual” business model where customers would book for flights, but would only be informed if their booking had been successful 48 hours before the flight. Customers would be allocated seats on existing airlines such as Mango or Kulula, and any remaining seats would then be available to Standby. However, the airline could also be based on a more traditional model where travellers would fly on Standby’s own aircraft, but these flights would be to areas not covered by the commercial airlines.
Coetzee has requested R5 million from the government to establish an IT system and a total of R26m to get it up and running.