LIFT or FlySafair: Who are you taking off with?
This year has been a heavy one for South African travellers when it comes to domestic flight ticket prices.
The aviation industry suffered a blow when it lost two low-cost carriers, Mango and Comair’s Kulula, as both airlines became grounded due to financial constraints brought on by the negative effects of Covid-19.
The liquidation of both airlines left a huge gap in the industry, leaving FlySafair as the dominant domestic carrier in the industry for months.
In December 2020, right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, another domestic airline, joined the industry when most airlines were struggling.
With its headquarters in Cape Town, LIFT began offering a route between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and more recently a Durban to Johannesburg route, with plans of a Durban to Cape Town route in the near future.
According to Lift CEO Jonathan Ayache, the airline is a domestic carrier that is customer-centric, offers customers complete flexibility when it comes to bookings, and aims to bring hospitality back into the industry by offering comfort and complimentary drinks on board its flights.
It would seem both LIFT and FlySafair, use the same model that most airlines use when it comes to pricing, so the price of a plane ticket is constantly changing based on current demand for a flight, the number of seats available, and the timing of booking.
FlySafair has also announced changes to its standard fare where the fare includes hand luggage and one item of checked-in luggage that weighs no more than 20kg, and travellers being able to make two flight changes without paying a penalty fee, although fare differences will still apply.
Travellers can also get discounted rates on optional extra services, which are not included in the basic fare.
Since the festive season is around the corner, let’s do a quick price comparison between LIFT and FlySafair for the month of December from King Shaka International Airport to OR Tambo International. Keep in mind that flight prices change constantly.
The cheapest fare for December on LIFT’s website was R600 while the cheapest offering for FlySafair sat at R731.
The average price for a ticket on Lift during “the big days” is close to R900 while the average price on FlySafair for December is over R800. The most expensive ticket for FlySafair during this period is R1 431 while LIFT’s most expensive ticket is R1 360.
LIFT revealed at its launch in October that a route between Durban and Cape Town is in the pipeline, while FlySafair has said that ticket prices will decrease to familiar levels, but not before February.
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