"This decision has been made after careful consideration regarding our Maputo route and it was certainly not an easy one to make," says Rodney James, chief executive officer of 1time Airline. "Unfortunately, there are just not enough seats being allocated to us, as we are restricted to five flights a week, with one frequency per day.
"Currently 1time has an allocation of 560 seats a week which is just not enough to capture both the business and leisure markets, which are key to making this route viable. Further, in terms of the business market, the allocation hinders us from offering a convenient flight schedule to corporates wishing to travel for meetings."
The decision does not affect any of 1time's other routes. The aircraft which was being used on the Maputo route will now be utilised on additional Johannesburg to Cape Town frequencies.
Concluded Rodney: "Although it is farewell to Maputo for now, as South Africa's first genuine low fare airline, 1time will continue to offer airfares that are consistently lower than our competitors' on all our other routes. We also continue to persist in our efforts to stimulate the air travel market with many first time flyers."
