Mango Airlines, South Africa’s award winning budget airline that provides direct flights between Johannesburg and Zanzibar continues gaining momentum with this route to the increasingly popular island of Zanzibar that is further enhancing itself as a worthwhile and affordable holiday destination for South Africans. Mango started with a single weekly flight in 2013 and has since doubled its capacity to Zanzibar with travellers and flight volumes over peak vacations periods quadrupling. Mango had more than 26,000 passengers taking flights to and from the exotic island last year and is considering adding further flights during peak periods.
Mango Airlines Flights To Zanzibar
Mango Airlines Flights To Zanzibar
‘Zanzibar’s appeal as a holiday destination for South Africans continues to grow,’ says CEO Nico Bezuidenhout. ‘Accommodation options across all levels of comfort is available across the isle’s 263 leisure properties of which only 20 are classified as five star plus. This has made Zanzibar very accessible to South African tourists across many levels of affordability.’ The destination’s popularity is such that the airline’s capacity near quadruples during high-demand days over peak times. ‘We are already considering additional frequencies for the year-end period as sustained growth continues.’
A number of sources indicated an aggregate of 175 000 visitors to Zanzibar last year with South Africans representing 10% of all inbound visitors to Zanzibar. With their market share at this time marked at approximately 70%, Mango is the only airline offering direct Mango Airlines Flights To Zanzibar. Tourism to Zanzibar denotes around 70% of foreign currency earnings, employing approximately 55,000 people, involved both indirectly and directly in inbound tourism with expected growth projected to exceed 15% each year between a 25 to 27% input to the island’s GDP.
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Mango Airlines is seeking further markets for greater growth on this route over and above South Africa’s leisure outbound travel to Zanzibar.
‘South Africa could serve as a gateway to the island from markets such as the Americas and Australasia, largely untapped, while we are also actively investigating broader distribution channels and consumer engagement opportunities in Zanzibar and Tanzania as a source market for inbound travel into South Africa,’ notes Bezuidenhout.
The Johannesburg Zanzibar route was Mango’s initial venture into Africa.
‘It has been a success story for us and,’ adds Bezuidenhout, ‘a starting block for measured, but continued regional growth.’ He stated that the leisure market will continue to be a focus for route development beyond domestic borders, ‘with the demand-side potential and the economy being determining factors in our ongoing business development strategy.’
Since the airline launched just a decade ago, its cautious decision making has benefited the airline carrier extremely well in an industry that saw fast growth draining resources with customers left abandoned by new emerging markets. Mango is today, by passenger volume, the largest domestic airline serving South Africans.