FlySafair’s annual sale, offering 50 000 tickets with the airline for R10, attracted nearly 2-million people for its 10th anniversary edition celebrating “Flying with Heart”.

“We are extremely happy with how yesterday’s sale went,” says Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair. “This sale is always equal parts exhilarating and nerve wracking as we try to juggle all the moving parts. However, as per usual, our world-class team here at FlySafair handled it brilliantly, from managing the daily ins and outs of running an airline to the high volumes of traffic, to our website. We’re also grateful to every one of our customers who joined in the celebrations yesterday – it’s not a birthday party without them.”

This year, a total of 1 713 980 people entered the waiting room during the day, with traffic peaking over lunch time at 973 100. This was up on last year’s figure of 1 425 378 people who visited the waiting room.

The R10 sale ended around 6pm when the 30% off After Party sale picked up steam. The 30% off sale went on until 6am this morning.

To entertain the more than 1,7-million visitors, FlySafair had a competition running in the waiting room and shared its X feed, where additional competitions were held just for fun with questions for customers to answer. The free flights for a year competition, a highlight for those waiting, had 237 585 entries confirmed.

The R10 tickets were spread across the airline’s domestic routes and dates spanning from May to the 30 November 2024. Around 29% of tickets were sold on the route between Johannesburg and Cape Town. The Johannesburg-Durban route also ranked among the most popular with new routes between George and Cape Town, and Cape Town and the Kruger giving solid first time performances.

Almost 70% of shoppers accessed the sale from their mobile device with the balance mainly accessing the sale via desktop. It was interesting to see 104 smart TVs joining the sale as well this year. Social media once again played a leading role in getting the word out, with the hashtag trending and customers sharing their experiences during the sale.

Lucky customers bagging those R10 tickets were also able to see if their lucky streak continued by sharing their R10 booking on X for a chance to win a holiday in Zanzibar.

“Yesterday’s sale brings us to a whopping 265 000 tickets sold from anything between R1 and R10,” says Gordon. “That is 1 402 aircraft filled with lucky passengers who we have had the pleasure of sharing our love of flying with. We are so thrilled at the success of this year’s sale and look forward to another 10 years of Flying with Heart.”