The low-fare airline operated by Comair, kulula.com, has offered to host a party for rival South African Airways (SAA) offshoot Mango if it ever makes a profit, kulula said on Friday.
It challenged Mango to come clean on its profit performance after Mango claimed this week that it was performing well since its start four months ago.
”The simple measure of financial success is profitability and that is the one number that Mango has been very quiet about,” said joint CEO of Comair Erik Venter in a statement.
Venter said losses suffered by SAA and its subsidiaries were funded directly by South African taxpayers.
”We, together with all other South African taxpayers, would be overjoyed if Mango makes profit and will host a huge party for their entire management team if this ever happens,” Venter said.
Venter acknowledged that Mango had helped grow the travel market but added that this was at the cost of Mango’s own profitability and that of its parent, SAA.
”The proof is ultimately in the pudding and if we are proven wrong, we’ll be eating lots of humble pie at the party,” said Venter.
On Tuesday, Mango said the rapid growth in the domestic aviation market had enabled it to pay back its shareholder, SAA, more than the R100-million start-up loan and that it had began operating on a normal cash flow. — Sapa