New airline for South Africa travel industry to be run taxi council

South Africa’s taxi industry does not have a very good reputation. Outbreaks of taxi violence regularly make headlines and while there are countless jokes about reckless driving and taxis being death traps we should not forget that many a truth is spoken in jest. So it’s understandable if you think that the next bit of news is, in fact, a joke. But it’s not. The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has plans to launch its own airline. Come September 2011, Santaco plans to stage its first flight to Durban. To prove the safety of the craft only Santaco delegates will be on the first flight. The aim is a noble one: to increase competition among affordable flight carriers and enable people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to cut down on their travelling time. Because the majority of people in South Africa don’t have their own means of transport and because families are displaced around the country in an effort to secure employment, most citizens have to rely on taxis to travel great distances.
This can be very expensive. Santaco hopes to give these travellers another alternative. Nkululeko Buthelezi, Santaco’s business development officer, says that although prices have yet to be finalised he doesn’t expect them to be more than R700. Flights will not be cheaper than taxi fares – because that would undermine taxis and the core business of the council – but they will be affordable.

In what can only be a joke, Buthelezi adds that taxi drivers will not be flying the air craft – in the near future. This responsibility will fall to AirQuarius, which will manage everything from providing and maintaining the planes to providing the crew.
Entering the realm of commercial air travel is not the only step in Santaco’s plan to “revolutionise” the taxi industry in South Africa. To make travel throughout South Africa even more affordable and accessible to ordinary citizens the council intends getting in on rail travel too. This will not only provide the man on the street with a practical transport solution but should also boost the internal tourism industry in South Africa and encourage people to take local holidays and see local attractions.