Hallo, FlySafair

As Namibians continue to lament the fate of the late, sometimes great, national airline, FlySafair has recently taken local flight.

On a Saturday afternoon, I join a crowd of passengers eager to fly to Cape Town. FlySafair’s pink and blue logo beckons near the entrance of Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport and I feel thrilled to be chipping out on the cheap.

Like countless pennywise travellers before me, I’ve chuckled at the results of a social media search that describes FlySafair as “the taxi of the skies” or “a Quantum with wings”. These descriptions probably worry me less than they should because, frankly, I’m a huge fan of taxis.

They’re cheap. They’re quick and they get the job done.

In FlySafair’s case, the job is to get me from Windhoek to Cape Town in a cool two hours. They’ve been doing just that every Tuesday and Saturday since late October and I’m yet to clock a complaint.

Back at Hosea Kutako International Airport, a friendly FlySafair staffer scans my passport, ignores the fact that my luggage, which one has to add to the advertised price, is 0.9kgs overweight and wishes me a good flight.

Though immigration all across the world can be flaming hell, I find the Namibian officials in high spirits. As a young woman flips through my passport, we discuss current affairs, the abysmal state of the world, and my exit stamp is issued without much fuss.

At Taste, a crowded departure lounge restaurant, a reserved table is suddenly available for my colleagues and I, and we eagerly scan the menu. As a low-cost carrier, FlySafair doesn’t give you complimentary food on board. When booking your flight you can opt to buy a refreshment voucher which will allow you to choose from a selection of snacks during food service.

Passengers can also pay for food on the plane with their credit and debit cards.

I bought a voucher so I skip ordering food at the restaurant but I do enjoy a glass of sauvignon blanc as my colleagues fill up on hamburgers. The stretch passes quickly and soon it’s time to board the latest addition to Namibia’s skies.

Inside, I find a compact cabin with three seats on each side but with room enough to stow your hand luggage, climb awkwardly over your neighbour in case of toilet emergency, and to get pretty comfortable.

The seats don’t recline, which isn’t a deal breaker for a swift two hours. The stickers some kid stuck to the tray table are still there from a previous flight, either to bring cheer to the whole affair or to say something or other about cabin cleaning, but I decide to take it as the former.

After a hypothetical hero by the emergency exit vows to do their best amid calamity, a safety demonstration and an aircraft spray, we’re smoothly on our way.

The flight is surprisingly turbulence-free, the food service hosted by the sweetest staff is seamless, despite multiple people paying for snacks onboard and, minus the affordability of the ticket, there’s nothing that really earns the moniker “taxi of the skies”.

While one flight is no measure of an airline’s typical level of service, my first flight with FlySafair is cheap, the staff is professional and kind, we touch down in Cape Town on time, and my baggage is precisely where it’s supposed to be.

If the flight home is a horror, I’ll let you know, but as FlySafair spreads its wings over our fair city, it’s certainly been a happy hallo.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com