Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie
Don't forget this is still based on a rumour. I'd be curious about the source.
Not doubting it just prefer to have rumours backed up with a reliable source.
Canadian markets in general, other than YYZ, are small(ish) and not premium heavy.
SFUVancouver really nails why JNB gets a few A380s. In my knowledge with BA, JNB was obscenely premium heavy. Many many flights would go out full-paid in F and J. It was very rare there would be empty premium seats into and out of LHR. Don't know if this is still the case today but I would assume there would still be some very significant wealth travelling in and out of JNB.
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I've flown to Johannesburg four times in the last year and a half: twice through LHR and twice through Hong Kong. I took BA for the LHR flights (a B744 and a A380) and Cathay (773ER) from HKG. On each leg of each flight I recall the economy cabins being absolutely full. There were also always a
lot of people in 1st, business, and premium economy. The sense I got was that these planes were full from stem to stern.
Something to consider is that the sheer length of travel for any international flights likely trigger business class travel clauses in a lot of business travellers, plus there is still very much a culture of business people and government travelling well (business & 1st). Government fact-finding and conference travel is common and frequently involves surprisingly large contingents of staff. There is also a brisk MICE sector (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) in South Africa, with Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town all sporting modern, world-class convention centres.
There is historically a large Indian presence in South Africa (particularly Durban) and an increasingly large Chinese presence for business and tourism (it was growing at 20% per year until the new SA visa situation cropped up this spring and the xenophobic attacks spooked the tour operators - Air China is going to scale down or suspend its JNB-Beijing route this fall and SAA cancelled the same route this spring).
This one is a big delicate: white South Africans are generally pretty well off. During the Apartheid years, white South Africans enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world. The diaspora of white South African is pretty large and they travel quite regularly to visit extended family. The black middle class in South Africa now equals the spending power of the white middle class and air travel, particularly within sub-Saharan Africa, is growing steadily.
Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg is emerging as the low-cost carrier hub connecting South Africa & Johannesburg to Sub-Saharan Africa and it on track to settle into the role of a Gatwick, for example. In time, I could see the Gautrain making a direct connection between OR Tambo International and Lanseria, making an domestic & international legacy carrier leg/regional low-cost carrier leg pairing an attractive offering.
The importance of the automotive sector is really hard to overstate, too. A large part of Sub-Saharan Africa's cars and trucks, including large transport trucks, are manufactured in South Africa and there is brisk trade in automotive parts perpetually flying through Johannesburg. The aerospace sector is pretty decent as well, with Denel being a Tier 1 supplier to Airbus and manufacturer of several key aerostructures for the A400M. Denel was also a Tier 1 supplier to Augusta-Westland, though they've wound down that relationship. Saab and Aerosud both have substantial presences in the Johannesburg area and presumably fly parts and people between Europe and South Africa.
Anyway, I'm going to throw on the breaks and not regurgitate my whole project. Suffice it to say, I'm not terribly surprised at all that Johannesburg is a place where the giants of commercial aviation come regularly to call. In addition to A380s, the place is bristling with long-haulers like the A340s, 747s, and 777s.
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