Press Release

Issued by Air Charter Service (South Africa).

January 28, 2013

As the African Cup of Nations got under way in South Africa, aircraft charters have been on the increase as the competing nations look to maximise the efficiency of their logistics around the country during the three week competition.

Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, has been busy booking charters to get fans, sponsors and the teams themselves to and from matches. Lyndee du Toit, director of ACS's Africa office, explains why: "Some of the stadia are almost 900 miles apart, so the only sensible method of transport is to fly. The situation is very much reminiscent of the World Cup 2½ years ago when we had probably our busiest period ever.

"Of course, once the group stages of the competition are over and quarter final places have been decided there will be another influx of enquiries for charters from the nations still involved."

du Toit added: "Having a local presence here in South Africa is essential for proper organisation of such large scale events. During the World Cup in 2010 some airports shut down runways to scheduled aircraft in order to accommodate the extra chartered jets. Having an office here meant we had access to this, and other important information, a lot earlier than companies not based here. This enabled us to coordinate our charters accordingly, obtaining the best slot times and ensuring our customers were fully catered for."