Mango to operate cheaper flights between PE and Lanseria

Mango Airlines will operate two flights a day between Nelson Mandela Bay’s Port Elizabeth Airport and Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg from July 11. The aircraft will be a Boeing 737-800 series. 

Marelize Labuschagne, acting CEO at Mango Airlines, said on Friday: "We are expecting the route will capture a combination of business and leisure travellers originating from the southern and northern parts of Johannesburg, the wider Gauteng province and beyond. Port Elizabeth is the gateway to the Garden Route and a highly populated tourist area so we are expecting this to be a popular network choice."

Economic development, tourism and agriculture executive director at the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, Anele Qaba, said difficulty in accessing the city at an affordable price has been identified as a barrier to tourism and economic growth in the region.

"To unlock the full tourism potential, air access needed to be prioritised in order to make it easier and more affordable for visitors to explore Nelson Mandela Bay.”

While it is not feasible to do a straight comparison across the three major airlines now serving Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg, at the same time on the same days, here are rough quotes: If you avoid red eye flights, departing from Gauteng on a Wednesday in July  and returning from PE on a Sunday will cost approximately R1,700, R2,160 and R2,300 on Mango, BA/Kulula and SAA respectively.