Joburg to G’town flights planned

FLIGHTS to Grahamstown from Johannesburg will soon be reality thanks to an air carrier focusing on niche towns with airfields.

CemAir, a Johannesburg-based private air company, made the announcement on Thursday.

CemAir was founded nine years ago with the sole purpose of operating turbo-prop commuter aircraft.

Speaking to the Dispatch, Nicolene Myburgh, head of scheduled services at CemAir, said: “Our modus operandi is to fly to small niche towns that have airfields that are not developed.”

CemAir operates in South Africa and the Middle-East.

Some of the local destinations include Margate and Plettenberg Bay.

She said Grahamstown was ideal for the annual National Arts Festival in July, the many schools in the university town, and the fact that it attracts a lot of international travellers during other conferences.

Myburgh said they intended to be operating by the first quarter of next year in time for the 2015 arts festival. However, a final agreement would be signed on December 8, as “we are still in negotiations with stakeholders”.

Myburgh said the Grahamstown airfield would be refurbished and licensed before operations begin.

“We are going to have community discussions to determine costs … and the flight schedule,” she said.

Grocott’s Mail reported that CemAir would fly 19-seater B1900 planes and already had a passenger terminal at O R Tambo International Airport. —