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Nelson Mandela Bay rolled out the red carpet on Wednesday for the arrival of the first flight by SAA's low cost subsidiary Mango.
Dignitaries, hoteliers and tour operators were on hand.
Mango has introduced daily return flights between PE and Johannesburg as well as Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
And, although the company said the Eastern Cape was always on its radar, Mango is filling the void left by the demise of 1Time.
Odwa Mtati of Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism says the welcome the arrival of Mango because it adds to the growth of domestic tourism.
"Growing domestic tourism is an important part of our strategy which all of us will understand during these tough economic times. We have seen our traditional and regular foreign trade from the likes of Europe opting for short haul destinations and not even traveling abroad."
Mango CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, thanked locals who packed out the first flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth.
He says tickets sales opened ten days ago for their new service and they're already sold out for the next 10 days.
"This is only the start, but it can only be sustainable if we get your support and we need to deserve your support. We will continue being on time, we'll innovate, keep pricing as low as possible," Bezuidenhout said.
"But with your support we can put on more flights, grow a bigger base and service you better," he added.
