So I was flying with a low cost orange coloured airline - no not EasyJet - Mango. When I booked my flight the time for departure was stated as 18:30. I downloaded the Mango app and checked in online. I was surprised to see that the flight time was now showing as 19:30. I don't think I was send any information about the change in flight which was strange.
I was dropped off at the airport well in advance of my flight so I had plenty of time to kill and have a look around the airport. In the background you should be able to make out the Gautrain Station which will whisk you into the centre of Johannesburg or Pretoria with a change at Sandton in a safe, reliable and cheap way.
Departures, my flight wasn't even on the board yet!
I was told not to check-in too early as this gives the baggage handlers plenty of time to look through your suitcase for anything they might like. So instead I made my way down from the departures floor to the middle floor which is full of restaurants and takeaways. I went for Wimpy, it reminded me of my childhood before the Wimpy in my hometown was replaced by Burger King. In WImpy you get actual plates, knifes and forks and have waitress service.
After sitting around for a couple hours it was time to explore a bit more
Looking down to arrivals:
The airport terminal is split into two halves: international and domestic. Both have a viewing area
On the way up there is this sign. I'm not really sure why muslims need separate toilets….
This is the international side of the terminal. There are a few shops here but to get to the actual check-in area you need to pass through some security and and show somekind of proof that you are flying. (I should be able to get some more pics of this area when I fly back).
This is the domestic departures check-in area complete with Mango booking office.
I finally checked-in and went through the security. This all proceeded swiftly without any hassle.
It had been another couple of hours since I had my meal and as Mango are low cost I knew there wouldn't be any free food on offer so I decided to try to have some dinner. Unfortunately the choice airside is much more limited and I ended up having to have another Wimpy meal! I had a little laugh with the waitor there as some woman was complaining that the floor was dirty telling them they needed to clean it. It had been raining outside and clearly some people had brought some dirt in from the rain but it was hardly very bad - she needs to get herslef to the UK and look at the mess it causes there!
Here's the departures board again with my flight on it. It's showing the original flight time of 18:30. Earlier it was showing delayed until 19:30, which is the time of departure on the boarding pass. Now the flight was delayed even more to 19:55.
I headed towards the Gate E5 which was shown on the boarding card (not noticing the change in gate to D2). Gates E appeared to be bus gates. As I arrived everybody started to move to the new gate D2, so back upstairs we all went. D2 had no seating available and was just a queuing area. Despite the delay people were deciding to join in the queue. Not wanting to miss out I joined them.
From the queue I got to see out. It was strange to see so many small BA planes here.
Eventually my plane arrived.
Our boarding cards were scanned and we proceeded down the airbridge where we were split into two rows, those people at the front and those people at the back of the plane like my self. Another angry woman was now complaining that she had queued up for a long time in order to get on the plane first but now she'd have to wait even longer as she was in the front of the plane.
After waiting a bit more, we were allowed on board and our tickets were checked again. I was shocked to discover the bland interior - no orange lockers or orange anywhere!
Leg room not too bad here due to the seat pocket being high up
The safety card and magazine.
The view through the window.
We took off and were offered things from the menu, I didn't take anything as I had already had my two Wimpy meals. The flight was pretty bumpy all the way to Cape Town, but the service is what you would expect from a low cost carrier so nothing interesting to report and as it was an evening flight there wasn't anything to see out of the window. (Unfortunately now view of Table Mountain this time). Strangely there was no mention of the delay to the flight or why the flight had been put back an hour (minus points there!).
Arriving in Cape Town, we disembarked and were bussed to te terminal.
I was in the last bus and my luggage was already on the belt when we got there, so that was a bonus and meant that my friend didn't have to wait any longer to pick me up.
See more
Verdict
Mango
6.3/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Buy-on-board menu5.0
Johannesburg - JNB
8.0/10
Efficiency8.5
Access8.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0
Cape Town - CPT
6.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Conclusion
This was a typical low cost flight - you get what you pat for. The only negative was the strangeness regarding the change in flight times and then the delay neither of which were even mentioned by the crew or any of the ground staff.
If you are flying domestic from Joburg, remember to eat before you pass through security.
1 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
I guess it's cheaper than SAA, but as you said, better to eat before using this low-cost flight. Hope you enjoyed this beautiful country, and that you'll share more pictures :)
I paid (my company paid) about £100. Mango was definitely the cheapest on the system we had. When booking I didn't notice any Kulula flights, which is strange as they code share with BA
Thank you for this report ! The BA 737 are actually from BA's subsidiary Comair. If you have a closer look at them and compare them to the (soon to be gone) main BA 737 fleet planes, their livery looks very amateur and doesn't look so elegant. The pitch looks good, one of the advantages of slimline seats on LCC. Can't wait to see the next legs ;)
Hi, many LCC in South Africa (except FlySafair) buy new aircraft. To pay off these planes as soon as possible, they try to fit in as many flights per aircraft per day. These leave very little time during turnarounds. If the aircraft is delayed by about 10 minutes in the first flight, it greats a domino effect and by the time it is the last flight of the day, the delays are about 30-60 minutes! Mango and Kulula are the worst, so many S'Africans avoid their later flights...
Flight-Report is a free website hosting more than 500 000 pictures and 17 000 reviews, without ads, this website can't exist. We understand that ads can be annoying, this is why we only display a maximum of 2 non-invasive ads per page.
To continue using Flight-Report, we invite you to add Flight-Report to your blocker's "white list".
8 reviews
7 Comments
I guess it's cheaper than SAA, but as you said, better to eat before using this low-cost flight.
Hope you enjoyed this beautiful country, and that you'll share more pictures :)
See you
I'll be sure to post some more tourist photos, on the next leg!
Your wtandard low cost experience indeed.
How were the fares on Mango or Kulula compared to the ones on SA?
The BA 737 are actually from BA's subsidiary Comair. If you have a closer look at them and compare them to the (soon to be gone) main BA 737 fleet planes, their livery looks very amateur and doesn't look so elegant.
The pitch looks good, one of the advantages of slimline seats on LCC.
Can't wait to see the next legs ;)
Login to post a comment.