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of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised.SALES MANAGER
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072 900 2023TRAFFIC
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Bryanston, 2021
South AfricaA
VIATION is a capital-
intensive industry
that is typically very
competitive and thus
has low margins. To
grow, the industry
needs to have
confidence in the economy – and in
government.
South Africa is currently in a crisis
of confidence. The ongoing deluge of
‘leaks’ relating to the capture of the
State President and his cronies, and
the pervasive stink of corruption, has
destroyed what little confidence in the
future the aviation sector had.
On top of the damage to the industry
caused by the failure of South Africa’s
top levels of government, there are
the ongoing debilitating attacks on the
industry itself, often led by well-meaning
but misguided bureaucrats. Fortunately
for now, the damage that would be
inflicted on the business jet industry by
the introduction of Part 93 has been put
on hold by the postponement of the more
harmful conditions for 180 days.
Reports from banks, and in particular
aviation lenders, indicate that their
customers are sitting on large cash
balances, but in the current depressed
market, and with an uncertain future,
the industry is taking a wait-and-see
approach to expenditure. The biggest
loser has been
discretionaryexpenditure. Flight schools report that
there are very few people wanting to
learn to fly for fun. The traditional flying
school and club is almost defunct and the
only flying schools that are surviving are
those training foreign students for airline
careers.
I am told that the charter industry is
down to just 30% of its turnover in 2015.
Owners of aircraft that rely on charter
are desperate. The large Gulfstreams
and Global Expresses are now available
for the same cost per kilometre as mid-
size jets. At that rate, they barely cover
their maintenance, let alone their fixed
costs. No wonder sales of new jets are
depressed.
Similarly, the sale of recreational
aviation aircraft is at an all-time low. The
Airplane Factory now sells the bulk of
its production internationally, as locally
very few pilots can afford to pay more
than a million Rand for a basic two-seater
recreational plane. The sales of type
certified piston aircraft have dried up
almost entirely. I am told that the big four
manufacturers combined have sold less
than 10 new aircraft in South Africa so far
this year (with the evergreen Cirrus SR
apparently having accounted for almost
half those sales).
There is a sense that almost
everyone is just holding their breath- or perhaps sitting on their hands.
There is hope that with the end of
the Zuma presidency there will be a
collective sense of the unburdening of
the economy, as though a huge weight
of depression has been lifted from its
shoulders. It may seem hard to imagine
now, but everything is cyclical, and this
too shall end. Then the pendulum will
swing back from the extreme depression
it is in now, to the other extreme of
optimism, and we will once again be
flying in the best country in the world.
Guy Leitch
Editor
[email protected]position report