FlySafair Fleet Expansion

FlySafair plans to add 2 Boeing 737-800 aircraft to their fleet in the next few months in what is seen as a move to prepare for the December season travel peak in South Africa. The aircraft that will be joining the FlySafair fleet in the coming months are both leased. The first aircraft was built in 2016 and was delivered brand new to South Africa's Comair as ZS-ZWG, it was withdrawn from use after Comair's collapse in 2022 and has been in storage in Johannesburg since. The second aircraft was built in 2012 and operated under the American carrier, Southwest Airlines as N8601C, it was withdrawn from the airline's use in April 2024 and will join FlySafair later this year.

Image by Ruoyang Yan

The addition of these 2 aircraft will bring Flysafair's fleet to 35 aircraft which firmly places the airline as the largest Boeing 737 operator on the African Continent with Ethiopian Airlines closely trailing behind with 32 of the type.

This fleet expansion once again highlights FlySafair's incredible growth over the past few years, a move greatly strengthened by the demise of Mango, and Comair as well as the drastic downsizing of South African Airways. The 2 new aircraft should add capacity for 12-14 more flights a day during the December holiday season. The airline is likely to add more flights between Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, also known as the Golden Triangle route. 

Image by Rearabilwe Maputla

When looking at the FlySafair fleet, it is evident that the airline has yet to acquire a brand-new aircraft, when  Kirby Gordon, the head of Marketing at FlySafair was questioned about the airline acquiring a brand-new aircraft, he stated that the airline is not yet ready to purchase a brand new aircraft from Boeing, when speaking to Simple Flying, Mr Gordon stated that buying brand new aircraft does not suit the airline's current business model. However, earlier in the year Mr Gordon had stated that the airline had started preliminary talks with Boeing about acquiring the 737 Max, to see the possibilities for implementation in the long term. 

Image by Neil Swart

This is a good move from FlySafair but it makes one think about the future of aviation in South Africa, according to reports, Mango is still trying to re-enter the South African market, with such well-thought-out expansion from airlines such as FlySafair what capacity does Mango really have to make meaningful expansion in South Africa once it starts operating again, especially considering the current state of the South African aviation market, I would be thrilled to hear what you have to say in the comments. Thank you Aviators for making it to the end of another blog, till next time STAY FLYING HIGH.

Image by Sebastian Sowa

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