Start-Up Airlines : Santaco Airlines (Santaco Express)

Santaco Airlines is South Africa's first fully black-owned airline that will offer a door-to-door service for the black South Africans who make up the biggest proportion of commuters using minibus taxis. While the taxi industry's poor reputation has left many South Africans feeling nervous about the new airline venture, Santaco Airlines is trying to clean up its image. Unlike accident-prone minibus drivers, airline crews will be sourced from a charter company already operating out of Johannesburg and will provide aircraft, crew and licences - addressing safety concerns. The taxi council's president, Mri Mthembu said the airline would bring dignity to those whose only experience of air travel has been seeing a plane in the sky. Book tickets and flights.

Starting up a low cost airline is tough business. Running a profitable airline is even harder. From startup airlines to established industry leaders, the process involves constant learning and adaptation. Few businesses have as many variables and challenges as airlines. They are capital intensive. Competition is fierce (Santaco Airlines), companies are fossil fuel dependent and often at the mercy of fuel price volatility. Operations are labor intensive and subject to government control and political influence. A lot depends on the weather conditions.

Santaco Express Airlines aim's to strategically exploit various gaps within the South African travel and tourism industry in order to reduce costs and in so doing, attract a different, new and previously excluded passenger, which in turn will introduce a new breed of local and international travellers to the airline market, and so becoming the first choice airline in South Africa for the masses. Santaco "The South African National Taxi Council" , which represents 95% of taxi operators made their initial announcement on the 29th June 2011, and said that the official launch is planned for the 16th September 2011 when tickets would start to be sold, and it is planned for the new airline to start flying commercial flights in November 2011 in time for the December holidays.

Santaco Airlines (Santaco Express) plans to pick up passengers at taxi ranks and transport them to and from various airports. They plan to run shuttle taxi's to the airports from Johannesburg's Park Station, Bosman in Pretoria, Bellville near Cape Town and Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape. The initial aim is a door to door service. Travellers could catch a taxi from their home and then connect with a santaco shuttle at the taxi rank or station. You are issued with a boarding pass, your bags are taken and then you go through a security check all in the taxi rank.