Eric Edelstein

I remember living in the UK a few years back, there was a price war going on between the budget airlines.

Easyjet and Ryanair were both trying to build marketshare, and they were offering ridiculous prices. You could fly to a number of countries around Europe for 5 pounds. But whenever I actually wanted to go somewhere, the flights were either fully booked, or the prices weren’t so budget! So much for cheap domestic flights!

In South Africa lately it’s become kinda similar, but we’re not at the crazy price level yet. A few weeks ago when I was in JHB my flights on mango cost around R800 each. That’s pretty cheap! And while we were in JHB, 1Time offered a special where you could fly from JHB to Cape Town for R300 each way including taxes! That’s the cheapest domestic flight i’ve seen!

But of course when you actually do want to fly somewhere, the cheap flights are no where to be seen. In a few weeks, we need to head back to JHB for Sanlam Fashion Week (I think it’s still called Sanlam Fashion Week! The fashion weeks are changing names pretty fast these days. The one in Cape Town today was called the Alive Cape Town Fashion Week - I think!) and there’s not a cheap ticket in sight! Thanks Mango! Thanks Kulula! Thanks 1Time!

For the same price as a ticket from Cape Town to JHB at the moment, I can find some cheap flights to madagascar - well, not as cheap, but almost! And Madagascar sounds a lot more fun than JHB! We need EasyJet & Ryanair entering the South African marketplace, and then we’ll find some real cheap domestic flights!