Executive airline Sun Air will cap its first year under new ownership with a profit, a new investment partner and expansion plans.
General manager Robalt Keselder confirmed that a European investor has bought into the airline, “but would not like to be identified at this stage”.
The investor has taken up a portion of the 90% owned by Sun Air’s CEO Koo Kirschner, with the remaining 10% still in the hands of former owners Millionaire Limited.
Keselder denied rumours that reached the Mail & Guardian this week suggesting that the airline was experiencing financial difficulty. He said Sun Air would wrap up its first year in February with a profit of about R12-million, from a turnover base of R90-million.
This represented a threefold increase from the figure under the previous owners.
Sun Air flies twice daily between Johannesburg and Cape Town. It has an executive lounge with upmarket services thrown in, including Indian scalp massages.
Keselder said the services would be expanded to include car hire, hotel accommodation and, if executives wanted it, bookings at a top golf estate by means of a single phone call.
Aviation analyst Linden Birns said that Sun Air offered a viable niche service, but that the frequency of flights offered by the airline was limiting.
In addition, the fact that the airline did not use Johannesburg International airport meant it missed out on passengers who might want to take a connecting flight.
Keselder said the airline had increased its frequency of flights from 86 a month to 160 a month.
He confirmed that from April, Sun Air planned to offer one flight a day out of Johannesburg International airport to cater for international travellers.