Direct flights from Plett to major business centres in SA

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

FROM next month direct flights will connect Plettenberg Bay in the Garden Route with other major business centres in South Africa after research revealed an increase in the number of businessmen and -women juggling their time between big cities and smaller coastal towns.
CemAir, an established aircraft owner and operator licensed by the South African Air Service Licensing Council, announced this week that from March 28 they will introduce scheduled flights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between Plett and Johannesburg as well as Cape Town.
"This is part of our trial phase until January next year. In the meantime we are continuing with market research to gauge the demand and could offer more frequent flights in the future depending on the interest," CemAir marketing manager Nicolene Myburgh said.
CemAir runs a five-day a week scheduled service between various towns including their latest route between Margate on the Kwazulu Natal South Coast and the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
"When we did our survey for Margate in October last year, we realised that there are a lot of people who have homes in the coastal areas, but live in Gauteng. Many of them hardly ever go there anymore due to the long travel hours and inconvenience to do so."
"We realised that we have the equipment in terms of aircraft to make these smaller areas more accessible to these people to allow them the opportunity to breakaway more often or travel for businesses more conveniently."

Therefore they started with the process of conducting a survey for market research purposes into the viability of scheduled flights between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Plettenberg Bay.
"CemAir is waiting for a response from the mayor's office for an appointment to discuss this new service and how CemAir will be able to assist in uplifting the community with the proposed service."
The company operates both domestically and internationally on a scheduled and non-scheduled basis and owns a fleet of 10 Beechcraft 1900 twin turbo-propeller aircraft and three Canadair CRJ regional jets. CemAir currently runs a five-day a week scheduled service between OR Tambo and Sishen in the Northern Cape, OR Tambo and Lephalale in Limpopo and OR Tambo and Margate.
Plett Business Chamber chairman Barries Ferreira welcomed the decision. "There is great interest for a service like this. It will mean a lot for business as a many businessmen live here, but do a lot of businesses in Johannesburg. It will also save a lot of in travel time," Ferreira said.

Until now, passengers would either have to drive to George and then take a flight to Johannesburg or Cape Town or drive there.
"It will also have a positive impact on tourism, making Plett more accessible."

Yolande Stander