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Safair

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This article is about the South African charter airline. For its subsidiary, the South African low-cost carrier, see FlySafair.

Safair
IATA ICAO Call sign
FA SFR CARGO
Founded1965
HubsO.R. Tambo International Airport
Fleet size34
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland, Ireland
Websiteflysafair.co.za

Safair is an airline based at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, South Africa.[1] It operates one of the world's largest fleets of civil Lockheed L-100 Hercules cargo aircraft.[2][3]

History

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Safair Operations as it is known today was established in 1965. At the time it was known as Tropair (Pty) Ltd and was a general aviation charter company. In 1970 the company name changed to Safair Freighters (Pty) Ltd when the company was purchased by Safmarine and the new entity began operations on 18 March 1970. Its primary client in the 1980s was the South African Defence Force.[4]

Safair is a Level 4 BBBEE contributor. Safair Operations (PTY) LTD has been independently verified in accordance with the Codes of Good Practice, issued in terms of section 9(1) of the Broad Black Based Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 as Amended per Act 46 of 2013 (Gazette 37271 of 27 January 2014). Safair is an affiliate airline of ASL Aviation Holdings. Humanitarian Aid and Relief operations has always been Safair's "niche" market. Safair assists aid and relief agencies such as the United Nations, World Food Programme, and the International Committee of the Red Cross in delivering much needed humanitarian aid to stricken regions on the African continent as well as other areas in the world where such assistance is required.[5]

Until 2018, Safair was contracted to the Italian Antarctic Program (National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA)) to support science over the austral summer, flying Lockheed L-100-30 missions from Christchurch, New Zealand to Zucchelli Station in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. In 2007, Safair obtained its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)[6] approval.

Fleet

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Safair Boeing 737-300 at Sharjah International Airport
Safair Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules
Safair L100-30 ZS-RSC sitting on the Deep Freeze ramp at Christchurch International Airport in between missions to Zucchelli Station in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

As of July 2019 the Safair fleet consists of the following aircraft:[7][8]

Safair fleet
Aircraft In fleet On order Notes
Boeing 737-800 7 Passenger
Boeing 737-400 10 Passenger
Boeing 737-400C 1 Combi aircraft
Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules 6 Freight only, passenger only, or combi
Lockheed Martin LM-100J 10 Ordered in 2014 to replace current L-100s
Total 24 10

Previously operated

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Reliability and on-time performance

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In October 2023, Safair was the most reliable low-cost carrier according to Cirium's On-Time Performance rankings.[12] In October 2023, Safair flights arrived on time 90.81% of the time.[13]

FlySafair

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Main article: FlySafair

In 2013, Safair created a low-cost carrier operating under a separate brand called FlySafair. The initial plan to operate flights in October 2013 had to be cancelled, as a result of a High Court application by Comair.[14] FlySafair is currently operational, with the first flight having taken place on 16 October 2014.[15] FlySafair operates passenger flights between Cape Town, George, PortElizabeth,Johannesburg, Lanseria, Durban, Bloemfontein, KMIA, East London, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Harare, Livingstone,Victoria Falls and Maputo.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Contact". Safair. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  2. ^ Flight International 2010 World Airliner census. Retrieved 27 August 2010
  3. ^ Flight International 12–18 April 2005
  4. ^ Secrets, Open (16 August 2017). "Declassified: Apartheid profits – The Sanctions Busters' Toolkit". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ "UN World Food Programme (WFP)". www.wfp.org. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  6. ^ IATA. "IATA – IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)". iata.org. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  7. ^ "ASL Aviation Group Signs Letter of Intent to Procure Lockheed Martin LM-100J Freighters" – CNN MONEY. Retrieved 16 July 2014
  8. ^ "Our Fleet" – Safair. Retrieved 12 December 2013
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Klee, Ulrich & Bucher, Frank et al. jp airline-fleets international. Zürich-Airport, 1966–2007
  10. ^ Klee, Ulrich & Bucher, Frank et al. jp airline-fleets international. Sutton, UK, 2008–2013
  11. ^ "History of Safair" – Safair. Retrieved 25 March 2022
  12. ^ Cirium's On-Time Performance rankings
  13. ^ "The Monthly On-Time Performance Report – October 2023". Cirium. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Safair Flights, Bookings | SFR Flights". Southafrica.to. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  15. ^ Ensor, Linda (17 October 2014). "FlySafair will bring needed competition". Business Day. Johannesburg. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  16. ^ "FlySafair". Domestic Flights South Africa. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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Media related to Safair at Wikimedia Commons

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