Kevin O'Toole/LONDON
ALLIANCE, THE NEW African long-haul venture led by South African Airways (SAA), is gearing up for the launch of scheduled services in July, and says that new routes and aircraft are likely to follow.
The venture has its origins in protracted talks between Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia over the setting up of a new East African long-haul airline. Zambia eventually withdrew from the project, but SAA came in to get the project off the ground, among other things leasing the fledgling airline a Boeing 747SP.
Alliance was officially formed at the start of the year and has run a few charter flights, but the airline launches in earnest on 3 July with scheduled services from Uganda's Entebbe Airport and from the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam.
The airline is to operate services twice a week to London Heathrow, with additional services to Bombay, Dubai and Johannesburg. Break-even for these services is being set at around the 54% load-factor mark.
Alliance executive director Christo Roodt says that, once the airline has "...gained enough confidence" with these initial 747SP operations, the venture will look to add new routes and aircraft. Plans are due to be presented to the board by September.
He says that the airline is "seriously looking at" Rome and Frankfurt as possible destinations, while a cargo service to a European hub such as Brussels is also under investigation.
"The 747SP is a phase that won't continue for too long," he says, adding that no decisions have been made on which wide bodies will eventually be chosen for the airline, although they are initially likely to be leased used aircraft. "We're in the process of looking around," he says.
One option being studied for future cargo services is the Airbus A300 freighter conversion, work on which is now being carried out in South Africa by Simera.
The initial passenger services are being targeted at business travellers, although SAA's recent success in cultivating the leisure market, especially from the UK, has been noted, says Roodt.
Other partners may eventually be brought into the alliance, but Roodt stresses that the immediate priority is to establish the venture as a commercial success. "Some countries have expressed an interest," he says, admitting that Zambia would be among the "natural partners" in the region.
SAA is the largest shareholder in Alliance with a 40% stake, while the remainder is held in Tanzania and Uganda, divided between the two Governments, their national carriers and private investors.
Source: Flight International
