Goldfish Jack
30th Jan 2002, 09:29
Found this in the morning Business Report. Has Comair ridden the September crash and started to replace the B727's? If so, it will be a pity when they finally go, however I suppose money in the bank is what counts!! Good luck to all who fly them and might they have many happy hours in them.
Comair inaugurates new aircraft . .Sapa . .January 29 2002 at 03:44PM . .Cape Town - British Airways Comair inaugurated its new Boeing 737-400 aeroplane on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Tuesday morning.
The company is investing R500-million in an initial two 737s which are to replace two older Boeing 727 aircraft.
The 140-seater aeroplane, the first of its kind in Africa, was acquired from British Airways (BA) through a lease-back agreement with Safair, part of the Imperial group.
Addressing journalists at a function at Franschoek outside Cape Town, managing director Piet van Hoven said the 737s are 40 percent more fuel efficient than the aircraft they are to replace. Fuel makes up 30 percent of Comair's running costs.
The new aeroplanes are more spacious and have additional overhead luggage room as well as leather seats throughout the business class cabin.
Van Hoven said he was "cautiously optimistic that we can expect a healthier level of demand" after the slump following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.
He said the 737-400s would enable Comair to reach new destinations in Africa such as Nairobi, Dar-es-Salaam and Luanda which were previously out of range.
Asked why Comair had chosen to lease rather than buy the aircraft, van Hoven said that one should not have too much debt on the balance sheet and that Safair, through Imperial, had been able to finance the deal in rands so that Comair was not exposed to currency fluctuations.
The deal was struck at R10,30 to the US dollar. - Sapa
Comair inaugurates new aircraft . .Sapa . .January 29 2002 at 03:44PM . .Cape Town - British Airways Comair inaugurated its new Boeing 737-400 aeroplane on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Tuesday morning.
The company is investing R500-million in an initial two 737s which are to replace two older Boeing 727 aircraft.
The 140-seater aeroplane, the first of its kind in Africa, was acquired from British Airways (BA) through a lease-back agreement with Safair, part of the Imperial group.
Addressing journalists at a function at Franschoek outside Cape Town, managing director Piet van Hoven said the 737s are 40 percent more fuel efficient than the aircraft they are to replace. Fuel makes up 30 percent of Comair's running costs.
The new aeroplanes are more spacious and have additional overhead luggage room as well as leather seats throughout the business class cabin.
Van Hoven said he was "cautiously optimistic that we can expect a healthier level of demand" after the slump following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.
He said the 737-400s would enable Comair to reach new destinations in Africa such as Nairobi, Dar-es-Salaam and Luanda which were previously out of range.
Asked why Comair had chosen to lease rather than buy the aircraft, van Hoven said that one should not have too much debt on the balance sheet and that Safair, through Imperial, had been able to finance the deal in rands so that Comair was not exposed to currency fluctuations.
The deal was struck at R10,30 to the US dollar. - Sapa