South Africa’s budget airline disasters

South Africa has lost at least five major budget airlines over the last two decades.

The global airline industry operates on thin profit margins, and just a handful of flights impacted by safety or operational issues over a short period can significantly impact a small airline’s financial viability.

South Africa’s flight prices are currently very high because the country’s low-cost carriers — Cemair, FlySafair, Lift, and Airlink — have limited seat capacity compared to what was available before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The biggest reason for this shortage is the shutdown of South Africa’s biggest and longest-lasting low-cost carrier, Kulula, which wiped out around 40% of seat capacity.

Kulula’s “cheeky” advertising, signature bright green colouring, and affordable fares quickly drew a loyal following after its launch in 2002.

It operated a combined 31 aircraft between a peak of six destinations during its lifetime, including 23 Boeing 737s, six McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, and two Airbus A320s.

The Comair-operated service just barely survived the Covid-19 pandemic but was forced to cease operating in mid-2022 after the South Africa Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) grounded its planes due to alleged safety concerns.

The action came after two Kulula Boeing 737-800s suffered mid-air engine shutdowns within a few weeks, and another had an issue with its landing gear. All three planes landed safely.

Comair CEO at the time, Glenn Orsmond, has alleged the grounding had little to do with safety.

Instead, he said it was politically driven because the CAA was trying to divert attention from its own gross negligence, resulting in one of its own planes crashing in January 2020, killing three crew members.

However, Kulula is just one among dozens of failed airlines in South Africa.

Wikipedia has a dedicated page for defunct airlines in South Africa, with nearly 80 failed operators listed since 1920.

Many of these were cargo carriers or private charters, but several also ran full commercial services.

Below is a short overview of the backgrounds and downfalls of four other major budget airlines since the turn of the century.

Nationwide Airlines — 1995 to 2008

Nationwide Airlines began as a charter airline but had grown sufficiently to establish a regular commercial service in 1995.

In the years that followed, it became a local partner for several international airlines including Virgin Atlantic and TAP Air Portugal, and also launched a long-haul service between Johannesburg and London in 2003.

Nationwide was known for using older aircraft, including the BAC 1-11 and Boeing 727. That did not seem to cause major issues for over a decade.

However, on 7 November 2007, one of its Boeing 737-200s infamously dropped its entire right engine on takeoff from Cape Town.

Fortunately, an experienced captain guided the plane back to the airport for an emergency landing, and all passengers and crew were unharmed.

An investigation found the engine loss was due to a stress fracture in one of the engine’s retaining bolts. The engine came loose to minimise damage to other parts of the wing — precisely as Boeing intended by its design.

A subsequent investigation found that Nationwide’s maintenance organisation had not inspected the engine mount fittings every 700 cycles, as required by an airworthiness directive.

The last documentation of work on the fittings was in 2002, suggesting that it had not been inspected in five years.

Although Nationwide was able to resume operations, it had lost out on lucrative holiday revenue, and the engine mishap had frightened the public past the point of no return.

The issues were compounded by the 2008 global financial crisis and fuel costs surging 30%. After failing to secure a buyer for a majority stake, it voluntarily ceased operations before being liquidated.

1time — 2004 to 2012

Afrisource Holdings launched 1time with three daily return flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town in February 2004.

The airline was the idea of Glenn Orsmond, Rodney James, Gavin Harrison, and Sven Petersen.

While the name was derived from South African slang meaning “for real,” commuters and the public often joked that it was because “You only fly it one time,” referring to the quality of its service and cabins.

At the peak of its operations, 1time flew to nine destinations and had 11 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.

1Time’s demise was ultimately attributed to a combination of rising jet fuel prices and high maintenance costs on the older and cheaper aircraft it used.

Its planes also had less seat capacity and poor fuel consumption, making them less economical than aircraft used by Kulula and Mango.

Skywise — 2015

The short-lived Skywise launched in February 2015 but had completely halted operations by November of the same year.

Co-owned by the Mandela family, Irfan Pardesi and Tabassum Qadir, it only flew two Boeing 737s between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

At the peak of its operations, these planes conducted eight flights per day.

However, the airline was barred from takeoff for several hours on three days in October 2015 due to outstanding fees with the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and Air Traffic Navigation Services.

While the media reported Skywise was grounded, only two of its eight daily flights were actually affected.

However, it subsequently emerged Skywise would be shut down if its outstanding airport charges remained unpaid. By November 2015, Skywise was no longer in operation.

Mango — 2006 to 2021

Besieged from all sides by budget operators, South African Airways (SAA) launched its own dedicated low-cost carrier in Mango in 2006.

The airline used a combined 19 aircraft during its lifetime, primarily Boeing 737-800s. Aside from all the popular domestic routes, it also flew between Johannesburg and Zanzibar.

For many years, Mango was the only bright point in otherwise grim SAA financial statements.

Despite this, the SAA business rescue practitioners (BRPs) decided that Mango should be sold to a private investor as part of the flag carrier’s restructuring into a more purpose-fit airline amid its deep financial crisis.

Mango grounded flights in May 2021 after it failed to pay fees owed to Acsa.

Following the grounding, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) accused the public enterprises department of being aware of Mango’s financial distress as far back as May 2020.

Outa revealed that executive management at the airline had notified the public enterprises department the airline effectively bankrupt at that point but the department instructed it to continue operating.

Mango was permanently grounded from July 2021 after continuing to fail to pay its airport fees.

Despite Mango’s BRP securing a qualifying buyer, the late public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan delayed the transaction and had to be forced by court order to allow the transaction to go ahead.

SAA also delayed paying R399 million owed to Mango as part of a bailout package approved by the Parliament in 2021.

While the Mango BRP insisted that Mango still had a viable business case under its new owner in early 2024, there have been no further announcements on its potential return.