Federal Air Charter (Fed Air) - Madikwe and Sabi Sands
Jul 2nd, 2013, 05:26 AM
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Federal Air Charter (Fed Air) - Madikwe and Sabi Sands
I recently flew on Fedair again to Madikwe and then from Kruger to Johannesburg.
To my surprise, I had the pleasure of having Evan Baillie as my pilot. He currently is the CEO of Fedair I had a chance to talk with him for awhile (not while we were flying). He used to be owner of Bateleur Air which recently merged with Fedair. I found out that he still flies at least once a week to make sure he is in touch with his company (reminds me of Undercover Boss without being undercover).
Both flights were excellent and were about an hour long. The pilot kept us informed throughout the flight with information.
One of my big concerns was that many of my friends who were photographers had flown Fed Air prior to the merge and they were charged as much as another ticket to carry their camera equipment. I travel very heavy with two bags of equipment and I was not looking forward to excess baggage fees. To my surprise, I found out that Fedair no longer has a policy for charging for extra camera gear which definitely made me and my wallet very happy. Evan explained to me after our flight that he changed the policy to be more competitive with airlines like SAA Airlink which has highly restrictive baggage policies.
Evan also told me that the Kruger Air terminal at Skukuza will be upgraded to handle more commercial and charter flights. They are going to remodel the terminal to make it more modern.
I have flown both Fed Air and Bateleur Air at least 18 flights and I have found them to be on time and extremely professional. With their new baggage policy, I can recommend them more than ever.
Mike
To my surprise, I had the pleasure of having Evan Baillie as my pilot. He currently is the CEO of Fedair I had a chance to talk with him for awhile (not while we were flying). He used to be owner of Bateleur Air which recently merged with Fedair. I found out that he still flies at least once a week to make sure he is in touch with his company (reminds me of Undercover Boss without being undercover).
Both flights were excellent and were about an hour long. The pilot kept us informed throughout the flight with information.
One of my big concerns was that many of my friends who were photographers had flown Fed Air prior to the merge and they were charged as much as another ticket to carry their camera equipment. I travel very heavy with two bags of equipment and I was not looking forward to excess baggage fees. To my surprise, I found out that Fedair no longer has a policy for charging for extra camera gear which definitely made me and my wallet very happy. Evan explained to me after our flight that he changed the policy to be more competitive with airlines like SAA Airlink which has highly restrictive baggage policies.
Evan also told me that the Kruger Air terminal at Skukuza will be upgraded to handle more commercial and charter flights. They are going to remodel the terminal to make it more modern.
I have flown both Fed Air and Bateleur Air at least 18 flights and I have found them to be on time and extremely professional. With their new baggage policy, I can recommend them more than ever.
Mike
Jul 2nd, 2013, 02:14 PM
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Good to hear from you Mike.
Interesting about Fed Air, I've flown them twice. SAA upsets me every time I fly from JNB to Hoedspruit (HDS)(and return) because they INSIST on putting ALL hand carry ons in the aircraft luggage area. They do this as you are boarding the plane (from the ground on small stairway).
Anyway, how did you like Madikwe? You've been there before, right? After Madikwe did you go over to Lion Sands (in Sabi Sands)?
regards - tom
Interesting about Fed Air, I've flown them twice. SAA upsets me every time I fly from JNB to Hoedspruit (HDS)(and return) because they INSIST on putting ALL hand carry ons in the aircraft luggage area. They do this as you are boarding the plane (from the ground on small stairway).
Anyway, how did you like Madikwe? You've been there before, right? After Madikwe did you go over to Lion Sands (in Sabi Sands)?
regards - tom
Jul 4th, 2013, 04:45 PM
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Hi Tom, Madikwe was different. Its very large and you travel long distances to find anything. That being said, there is a lot to find including antelope I have not seen before, eland, tessabe and heartebeest. I will be posting a trip report about it. I had a unique experience to find myself watching to lioness prides do battle right in front of me. The lighting was extremely poor, after sundown, but I managed to get action shots that had lots of motion blur. I also captured a great sequence of shots of an eland leaping.
I also went to Lion Sands... have to go there because its like home to me.
Here are the shots so far, some more to come at some point. I will post the links again with my reviews. At Lion Sands, I got an 18 shot sequence of a cheetah chasing kudu.
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/lion_sands_2013
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/madikwe_2013
It was a great trip, but then we should expect that from South Africa.
Mike
I also went to Lion Sands... have to go there because its like home to me.
Here are the shots so far, some more to come at some point. I will post the links again with my reviews. At Lion Sands, I got an 18 shot sequence of a cheetah chasing kudu.
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/lion_sands_2013
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/madikwe_2013
It was a great trip, but then we should expect that from South Africa.
Mike
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