S Africa's taxi drivers reach for the sky: S Africa's unruly taxi industry is determined to do it right and provide an affordable and reliable service to rural destinations. Can this unlikely project succeed and will it become a model for other parts of Africa? Tom Nevin reports. When the story hit the front pages, everyone checked the date to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day. It was actually 13th June 2011 and the headline read: South Africa's Taxi Industry To Start Low-Cost Airline! The incredulity was understandable. South Africa's minibus taxi drivers are amongst the world's most cavalier and, after pedestrian fatalities, the cause of more deaths and injury than any other road traffic accident. The 300,000 or so drivers are the first to admit their shortcomings, but they do not regard them as an obstacle to their proposed airline. South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) president, Jabulani Mthembu, points out that "We are not making taxi drivers pilots. Aquarius (which provides aircraft to other South African domestic carriers) will provide us with a full service, including planes, pilots and licensing." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "However," contributes Sunday Times newspaper columnist, Fred Khumalo, "we're talking about Santaco here, a group which over the years has run the taxi industry with forthright arrogance and very little regard for passengers or other road users. The taxi industry is not only unregulated, it is a law unto itself. I do not know of any
taxi owner who pays tax. Apart from their refusal to pay tax, taxi owners pay little regard for their vehicles. It's only when a taxi can't move at all that the owner will reluctantly fork out a few bucks for repairs. Even then, the vehicle is taken to the nearest bush mechanic." Santaco's business development officer Nkululeko Buthelezi says the airline is to be called the Santaco Express with service due to launch on 16th September and first takeoff in November. "The airline will focus on routes not flown by other carriers. We will be going into the more rural areas of the country," adding that "we specialise in awkward areas because that's where our business is." Before Santaco, Buthelezi was group CEO of South African National Transport Solutions, a transport training agency that was also responsible for involving the various Gauteng taxi associations with the 2010 soccer World Cup "park and ride" systems. But, he observes, airline operation is a whole lot different. "We want to call our model a door-to-door service," he told the Maverick website. "You'll leave your house and walk less than a kilometre, find a taxi and go to the railway station. When you get there, you decide that you don't want to be on the road for 14 hours, or you've got a bit of extra cash - this service is not aimed at taking business away from taxi drivers, it will be at a premium - and want to go to Eastern Cape on the flight, so you go to a different section of the station and you are immediately issued with a boarding pass, your bags are taken and then you go through a security check - all
in the taxi rank. "Once you step into the airline section you'll notice you're in a different environment, from the level of cleanliness to the quality of service you'll get - the decor, everything. From there, you'll be taken to Lanseria Airport and you'll be received by the ground crew and you'll board) the plane. When you hit the ground on the other side, you and your bags will be taken on a shuttle and to the taxi rank there, which will be a major hub we want to develop." Everything in one affordable fare Santaco Express, Buthelezi stresses, will be managed by AirQuarius Aviation, a South African-owned company that works with such other domestic airlines as civil aviation-registered SA Express and SA Airlink. "Once the venture is up and running Johannesburg Shuttle Services AirQuarius will hand over all management to Santaco, most likely within 18 to 24 months," says Buthelezi. AirQuarius Aviation is based at Johannesburg's Lanseria Airport, providing aircraft management services; pilot and crew training and development; aircraft sales, leasing and charters; and aircraft maintenance. "It must make business sense. The airline business is very tight in terms of margins. Internationally airlines are looking at about 66% load factor to break even. We need a minimum of 80% and if we have guarantees of numbers, then we'll consider any route. We're starting slowly; we don't want to saturate ourselves. The airline industry burns cash so we don't want to overextend ourselves,"
said Buthelezi. But all the signs are good: Santaco has already had approaches from other provinces asking to be put on the route. Santaco Express plans one or two flights a day from Lanseria and Cape Town International to Bhisho in the Eastern Cape, home to a good many taxi drivers and commuters in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The fare package will include transport from the taxi rank to the airport, and then a transfer to a taxi rank at the destination. "We will build everything into one price in the affordable sector," says Mthembu, "although final fare cost of a ticket has not yet been decided, but it will probably be between $74 and $89 for a one-way ticket". This compares favourably to what commuters already pay to travel in buses or taxis, with an enormous saving in time. Commuters appear to have no qualms about riding an aircraft owned by South Africa's notorious taxi drivers. "We are so excited about this airline," says minibus taxi regular Luthando Nyawuza from Bhisho quoted by The Media Club news service. "I work in Johannesburg but my family lives in the Eastern Cape, I try to visit home every two months which is a long taxi trip taking 14 to 15 hours." Nyawuza says the hour-long flight will cut down on travelling and allow for more family time. "I appreciate what the taxi drivers are doing for us," he says. "They are really looking out for us people from the rural areas because they come from there and are considerate to our needs. I never thought this kind of service would be
possible for us. Clearly only the sky is the limit." Flying is about professionalism, precision, accuracy and punctuality Imagine the chaos in our airspace if our aviation industry were to be run just like our taxi industry South Africa's taxi drivers are famously obnoxious and rude, understandable considering most work 15 frazzled hours a day in racetrack-like traffic. RELATED ARTICLE: Gulfstream Private jets on the increase A growing number of Africa's wealthy entrepreneurs are following in the footsteps of their American and European counterparts by acquiring their own private jets. On a continent beset with poor transport communications and often unreliable air connections, it does make sense to have your own plane - if you can afford it. Between 2010 and 2011, rich Nigerians acquired at least six private jets worth a total of $225m, bringing the total in the country to around 70. The PANA news agency also says the latest acquisitions were made by billionaire Aliko Dangote, telecoms mogul Mike Adenuga and famous pastor David Oyedepo. Dangote and Adenuga are believed to have bought a Bombadier while Oyedepo as acquired a Gulfstream. There are around 35 Gulfstream aircraft registered in Africa according to the company. "Around 14 of those are our most popular aircraft, the large-cabin, long-range G450 and the large-cabin, ultra-long-range G550." The G450 has a range of 4,350 nautical miles at Mach 0.80, while the G550 has a rangeof 6,750 nm at Mach 0.80.
The majority of Gulfstream aircraft are located in South Africa. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] $225m Between 2010 and 2011, rich Nigerians acquired at least six private jets worth a total of $225m