SA Express on Tuesday announced the return to service of flights to Walvis Bay and Hoedspruit.
The relaunch of the routes forms part of the airline’s strategy to reclaim its local and regional footprint.
Flights from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit, located in Mpumalanga, will resume from 11 October, while those to the port town in Namibia resumed on 24 September.
This brings to seven the total number of SA Express destinations reinstated since the airline’s relaunch in August 2018.
In May, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the suspension of SA Express’s air operator certificate and the certificates of airworthiness (CoA) of nine of the 21 aircraft being operated by the airline.
The CAA reinstated its Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) certification on 22 June 2018. Subsequently in July, SA Express announced that it was readying itself for take-off.
The Interim Chief Executive Officer of the airline, which falls under the ambit of the Department of Public Enterprises, Siza Mzimela, said the company is keen to close the gap left since its grounding.
“SA Express's primary objective is to connect secondary destinations to main airport hubs and connect people to businesses and people to their loved ones, and we’re determined not to make our passengers wait any longer than necessary.
“Over the past months, we have received countless messages of support from our passengers and partners and this is evidence to the critical role SA Express plays in the South African aviation ecosystem,” she said.
Mzimela said the latest additional routes is a clear indication of the airline’s “promise to optimise on our efficiency as a business, while observing industry standards for safety, product quality and customer service”.
She added that the SA Express board and executive management have worked hard to ensure that the airline’s return to service is efficient and sustainable.
“Key to this new business model is the adoption of a customer centric service with an On Time Performance (OTP) of 90% and we are delighted to say that since our first return to commercial flight on 23 August 2018, our average OTP has remained consistently above 90%,” said Mzimela. - SAnews.gov.za
