Seshman

If you mean cancel, not using it during SA, sorry, ZA summer, then that is correct. But I don't think they have cancelled it during the European summer. They still run 3 at that time.

jimyvr

The 3rd Daily flight is canceled. It was to be canceled in Northern Summer 2010 but reinstated due to World Cup traffic.

Northern Summer 2011 is 2 Daily.

Seshman

(Me) learn something new everyday!

simon stingray

So I seem to recall reading somewhere that the new 330 Premium cabin will have some new features.

Anyone know anything about this-will it still be the same flat bed seats.

Of course there doesn't appear to be any info whatsoever on flysaa.com.

gcuk

I'd guess SAA and BA already have that data as they would know which pax on their international services are connectiong to or from Durban and I'm sure 'setting up a couple of flights to run for a couple of months' isn't as simple as it sounds. I recall SAA used to fly a 747 to Durban from Heathrow via Johannesburg in the late 90s.

Seshman

There seems to be very little info on this at the moment. All I have managed to dig up is that the Cabin interior will be 'refreshed' and that the IFE will be enhanced.

thijsseh

I also read that somewhere and was looking forward to experiencing this first-hand in early April. But they have just changed back to the 342 for the CPT/LHR route for that time...

juzzy

look at this...the demand is there!

http://www.therouteshop.com/dubetrade-airport/

Seshman

Well spotted juzzy!

The argument against it is that the no-frills carriers that don't have international operations (1Time, Kulula, Mango) will loose business as they are obviously being utilised to get to JNB. Not that I have an issue as I don't use them anyway!

juzzy

but if a business like SA opened DUR-LHR, why would they care if a no frills airline goes down because of lost revenue from the DUR-JNB, its all competition. less competition means more money for them and vice versa.

i think at the moment that airlines are a bit sketchy on opening up a int'l route to DUR and are "waiting". what i do know is that Jet airways and Qatar are both very serious about flying to DUR (jet had advertisements and stands everywhere at the Durban ICC recently, advertising flights) and i reckon we will see them announce the route in 2011.

That being said, If SAA wait too long they could end up kicking themselves for losing out on a golden oppurtunity just purely out of "Policy"

Seshman

They wouldn't care. I was thinking more along the lines of opposition for starting routes from DUR to LHR and what effect it would have.

Don't Emirates run direct out of Durban to Dubai, or somewhere like that? If they do then surely it must be working for them, and why don't the others cotton on to the idea and follow suit? ie: Qatar(like you said), etihad, and once again SAA...

thijsseh

My dear DUR friends, please see my post #10 earlier on. As we all know, SAA is not exactly flush with funds to buy or lease equipment. I think (not: I know!) that SAA are simply looking at where they'll get the best returns with the equipment they've got.
Having said that, I quite understand your desire for a DUR / Europe route which bypasses JNB! (I keep worrying that they'll pull CPT/LHR as they did with the CPT/FRA route).

Cheetah_SA

Yes, EK runs a daily service to DXB using an A330. And evidently you don't use that option. Which just goes to show that providing the route will not mean that pax will use it. For any number of reasons: convenience, loyalty, pricing etc. Interestingly EK is now the only carrier offering direct international routes from 3 ZA airports.

With EK already providing an option via the ME it is unlikely that QR or EY will want to add flights - unless the EK flights are so successful that demand exceeds supply. I imagine many airlines will be monitoring the success of that route.

Jet makes a lot more sense since they would be able to take pax to India non-stop so they would not have to compete with EK on price alone. And a flight to Europe might work. But given that LH cannot even make its CPT/FRA direct flight work all year round and there are no slots at LHR it seems that hubbing at JNB is going to be our (sad) fate for some time to come.

Currently from CPT we have non-stops to LHR (on SA, BA, VS), DXB (EK), FRA (LH summer only) and SIN (SQ 3x weekly). We also have direct flights (but with a stop in JNB) to IST(TK), AUH (EY) and SIN (SQ). Have I missed anything?

And yet I still find myself connecting in JNB far more often than not.

Seshman

I don't fly enough LH, or to many multiple destinations, to warrant that sort of thing. I still think that flying is half the fun of the journey, so for now, I am still quite happy to travel to JNB and sip the Champers in the lounge whilst I wait! For me I am BA loyal so I would not try any of the other options if they materialised in Durban. (I would be severly tempted on SAA though)

jimyvr

The so-called "policy" that you've been criticizing is like criticizing BA to operate long-haul strictly out of LHR and ignore MAN, when there is a demand on MAN - JNB sector (for instance), or criticizing Air France strictly operates out of Paris and ignores other market like Marseille or Nice where demand is also there.

I'm asking the question again.

Is the demand strong enough support a full-year service on DUR LHR nonstop with at least 80-90% full, all passengers are paying full-fare not discounted, in order to offset the additional cost including air operation and ground, by operating this odd-ball route?

There are connection traffic in LHR to Europe, but where is the connection via Durban?

Foreign carriers like Emirates, and possibly Jet Airways and QATAR like the poster mentioned, has different market strategy and orientation compared to SAA or BA or even Virgin, despite they're all capturing the same market. Also, EK for instance is able to operate daily with A330-200 is because it is not only capturing the UK - Durban market, but also targeting the rest of Europe, Middle East and Asia, something SAA is unable to compete/offer with due to lack of its long-haul network thanks to the restructure in the last 10 years.

Also, since you pointed out that Durban has the demand to London, then what about to Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore...etc? So in this case they should open it too because there are "opportunities".
http://www.therouteshop.com/dubetrade-airport/

Plus, the number and forecast was based on 2008 figure. Has this route seen market increase by 5% as it predicted?