Emirates Airlines had seen such an “unprecedented” demand on its Durban-Dubai route in December and early January that it had put on two extra flights for the recent festive season, Emirates’s regional manager for Southern Africa, Fouad Caunhye, said this week.
Speaking to The Mercury he said the route had seen “load factors” (or occupancy levels) peak at 95 percent in December.
The average load factor on the Durban-Dubai flights last year was around 80 percent, highlighting the success of the route. But he would not say when Emirates would consider introducing a double daily flight to King Shaka International Airport.
“When demand peaks, we can be flexible and put on extra flights like we did for the festive season on the Durban route. But we can’t commit on a double daily to Durban just yet and would rather consolidate the route and our South Africa operations,” said Caunhye.
“With load factors over 95 percent in December on the Durban-Dubai route, we could have added more extra flights. However, it was a tough balancing act for us as this is a peak season globally and we did not have extra or freely available aircraft in our fleet.
“We operate one of our biggest planes to Durban, the Boeing 777, which is configured with more than 400 seats. With the surge in bookings, Emirates put on an extra flight on December 23 and on January 7. The peak is subsiding somewhat now. But Durban is still quite seasonal and we need to see a consolidation of the load factors year-round for an additional flight,” he said.
Caunhye said South Africa was one of Emirates’s most important markets and last year the airline’s passenger numbers on its routes to Joburg, Durban and Cape Town surpassed the 65 0000 mark for the first time. This represented an increase of 12 percent over the 2012 financial year.
“We operate three flights daily to Joburg, which include an Airbus A380, in addition to double daily flights to Cape Town and daily flights to Durban. The split in passenger figures between the three destinations includes Durban at over 25 percent, around 35 percent to Cape Town and the balance on the Joburg-Dubai route. “The depreciating rand may be playing a factor in demand into the country, but we also have a strong network, which is the major contributor to our success. For example, we fly to 10 cities in India via Dubai and we also have a strong network of routes in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Dubai has been developed as a major aviation gateway and hub, and Emirates’ growth and strategy is a key part of this.”
Caunhye said “connectivity is king” for airlines to be competitive and that Middle Eastern airlines were shaking up the industry globally. Emirates flies to more than 130 countries and has a fleet of more than 200 aircraft, including about 44 A380s. It also has about 380 aircraft on order over the next decade and boasted its 25th consecutive year of profit last year, at $622 (R6.83 billion) million.
King Shaka International Airport spokesman Colin Naidoo said the fact that Emirates was now enjoying “almost capacity” flights daily out of the airport was an indication that Durban and KZN was becoming a stronger destination.
“This is highlighted by the fact that Emirates increased their flights during the festive season… The arrival of British Airways’ A380 at King Shaka for crew training this week also shows the capability of the facilities and it’s an opportunity for BA to experience the region to contemplate a scheduled flight to Durban,” he said.