South African Airlink’s efforts to boost its share of the leisure flyers’ market are beginning to yield dividends.  Despite the traditional decline in business passengers over the festive season, the feeder airline achieved record passenger loads in December 1999.

Rodger Foster, CEO of South African Airlink, this week also announced that the airline achieved a personal record of 49 192 passengers in November 1999.  “We are now confidently expecting to top the 50 000 mark in March 2000,” he predicted.

Foster said the substantial rise in passenger volumes in December 1999 ( a total of 38 000 was budgeted; 39 646 achieved ) showed that South African Airlink’s efforts to boost tourist loads, started six years ago, were now beginning to pay off.  Five routes in particular showed exceptionally good passenger loads over the recent holiday season.

“Since introducing the frequency-and-timing principle to the Johannesburg-Swaziland route about six months ago we have boosted monthly loads to around 4 500 passengers, and the December performance on this route proved exceptional.  Margate, however, topped the list mainly, I believe because holiday-makers are now beginning to resist Cape Town’s rising accommodation tariffs.  The Johannesburg-Plettenberg Bay and Cape Town-George routes also showed no seasonal variation of note and Durban-George also showed unusually high passenger loads in December ,” he added. 

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