CemAir - Bouncing Back Strongly

As the airline industry slowly returns to a 'new normal', Johannesburg based carrier CemAir is thriving. The airline is pushing ahead, into the gaps in the market left by the departure of competitors such as SA Express and Mango, and the slow restart of SAA.

- By Guy Leitch

CemAir CFO Dr Laura van der Molen says that the airline is focussed on optimising the use of smaller gauge aircraft. One of CemAir’s strengths is that it provides essential air connectivity to the smaller towns on the coastal routes, particularly from Johannesburg to destinations such as Margate, Plettenberg Bay and George. She notes that there has been a steady move of people away from the cities to the coastal towns and that this helped underpin the CemAir route network.

As primarily a regional operator, the CemAir fleet currently consists of: A pure jet fleet of eight CRJ 100/200 LRs, plus two -900s, with another on the way. The turboprop fleet consists of three Dash-8 Q400s with another scheduled to arrive in May, two Dash-8 Q300s, a Q100 plus seven Beech 1900Ds.

Using regional aircraft has however not prevented them from taking on the low cost carriers who operate 186 seat Boeing 737-800s. CemAir has entered the intensely competitive Johannesburg - Cape Town and Durban ‘golden triangle’ market. However, she says that the bulk of their capacity is at peak times, such as Friday and Sunday afternoons and Monday mornings. She notes that the Bombardier CRJ900 is a particularly popular option with its 31-inch seat pitch and thus better leg room than some of its competitors.