Hilka Birns/JOHANNESBURG
Virgin Atlantic is discussing the expansion of its presence in South Africa through a franchising agreement with local partner Nationwide Air.
The airlines entered codeshare agreements on routes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban this month. Virgin operates daily services between London Heathrow and Johannesburg, and two flights a week to Cape Town.
The airlines already have interline agreements on some South African routes. Nationwide has included Virgin's logo on its livery and participates in Virgin's frequent flyer programme "flying- club" and sales promotions. According to Virgin's regional general manager India & Africa, Mackenzie Grant, a franchise agreement could be the next step.
The South African domestic carrier has only an 8-10% market share and is looking for a strong strategic partner to survive competition from South African Airways (SAA) and its regional feeder carriers South African Express and SA Airlink, which together dominate about 70% of the domestic market. Nationwide is upgrading its fleet by phasing out its 10 BAC One-Elevens in favour of more Boeing 727s and 737s. Five have been replaced so far.
• Nationwide lodged a complaint this month with the South African Competitions Tribunal for alleged predatory behaviour by SAA on routes served by both airlines. It claims SAA is contravening the SA Competitions Act by using predatory pricing methods to eliminate competitors, cross-subsidising flights and offering huge incentives to travel agents. SAA is due to formally respond to the complaint
Source: Flight International
