We’re sure that if you had to ask new South African airline Lift whether launching during a pandemic was a fun time, you’d be met with all kinds of furrowed brows and sardonic chuckles. Yet that hasn’t stopped it as Lift has officially conducted its first two flights as of this morning. The Global Aviation Operations owned airline took off properly for the first time this morning at 06:30 in from Joburg to Cape Town. Just twenty minutes later, Lift’s first Cape Town to Joburg flight took off too, so it’s been a big day for everyone involved.
When asked about their thoughts on launching during a global pandemic, co-founder of Lift, Gidon Novick, stated, “It’s always the right time to do something right.” Which is about as much of a dodge as one could possibly roll into. Great marketing catchphrase though.
Lift is all about flexibility
The biggest draw for Lift is how flexible the company is with tickets. Passengers can cancel or change ticket details for no extra charge up to 24 hours before their scheduled flight. It’s a fantastic policy that many people will no doubt make use of considering the turbulent nature of travel these days.
The new airline is also doing the most to work alongside some pretty big name brands. According to a press release sent out yesterday, fashion and clothing store Superbalist has supplied the threads for the cabin crew while Vida e Caffe is providing the coffee that passengers will gulp down while they’re in the air. As for snacks, passengers can expect “innovative locally produced” food which doesn’t exactly tell us much. Maybe there’ll be peppadews? Always down for a good peppadew.
If you’re at all interested in using Lift, you might want to jump on sooner rather than later. During this holiday season, kids under the age of 12 can travel for 50% on all Lift flights. Still, given the hotbed of COVID that Port Elizabeth and Cape Town have turned into, it would be a risk you’d need to be willing to take. The Lift website does have a tab dedicated to COVID, so at least they’re aware that it’s still a problem.
