South Africa's Comair is looking at expanding its British Airways franchise to include long-haul services.
Comair co-chief executive Gidon Novick says the carrier is studying several potential long-haul routes including to China, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North America. London is the only major destination excluded from the search because BA already operates its own services to South Africa from Heathrow. "We're looking at route options. It's a very interesting opportunity," Novick says.
Widebody aircraft would have to be acquired before long-haul services are launched as Comair's fleet now consists only of Boeing 737s and MD-80s. Novick says this could be a barrier because the widebody leasing market is very tight, with few aircraft available this year at reasonable rates.
In addition to its BA franchise, which includes domestic and short-haul destinations within Africa, Comair operates a domestic low-cost carrier known as Kulula. Novick says the BA code would be used for the proposed long-haul operation because despite the recent launch of several long-haul low cost carriers he does not think it can be a profitable proposition.
"The profits in long haul are made in the front of the cabin," he says. "The BA brand is the best brand to take into these markets. It's about yields."
Novick is instead looking to expand Kulula by using its website to sell tickets on other carriers. Kulula.com already sells tickets on Comair's BA-coded flights and on other African carriers including Zambian Airways.
Novick says Kulula is now considering interline deals with international carriers that fly into South Africa but are not partnered with BA. He is also interested in using Kulula.com as a vehicle to sell tickets on low-cost carriers from other regions.
"It's a possibility. Low-cost guys like Kulula have such good audiences, we have to figure out what else we can sell," he says. "We see Kulula evolving, giving passengers more options. If there are costs associated with these, we need to make sure we recover them."
Source: Airline Business
