Mango Airlines SOC Ltd, trading as Mango, is a state-owned South African low-cost airline based at OR Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg^[2] and a subsidiary of South African Airways.

Mango was launched on 30 October 2006, with bookings going on sale at midnight on the same date. Mango's first flight took place on 15 November 2006. Mango planned to join Star Alliance as a Connecting Partner in the third quarter of 2016 but the plan has been put on hold due to South African Airways' financial state.^[3]

Mango is 100% owned by South African Airways,^[4] which is itself owned by the government of South Africa, but operates independently as a low-cost airline with its own Board and balance sheet.

Some key trends made available for Mango over recent years are (as at year ending 31 March):

Financials for Mango are fully incorporated within the SAA Group figures. However, not all the performance figures in the Group's Annual Reports are broken down to subsidiary level (including load factors, staff numbers, etc.); (in 2009, Mango's then-CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, said: "I am not releasing our financial statements as that is sensitive information. We've always said we would report on the results and tell the taxpayer how we have performed. We have never promised to publish the audited financial report."^[7]) Some figures above are from press reports.^[5][11]

Mango's head office is at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, on the mezzanine level of the Domestic Departure Terminal.^[12][13]

Mango serves the following destinations:^[14]

As of August 2017, the Mango fleet includes the following aircraft:^[15]

As a low-cost airline, Mango features a uniform fleet of aircraft with high seating density. Mango also offers online ticketing. A standard booking does not include food and drinks. Mango offers a buy on board programme offering food and drinks for purchase.^[16][17]

Mango provides an in-flight magazine Mango Juice along with Mango TV, a daily in flight entertainment programme viewable on the drop-down televisions placed throughout the aircraft. In-flight Wi-Fi is also available on all flights for a fee, except on ZS-VDB as this is an older aircraft. Wi-fi services are provided by G-Connect, a local internet broadband provider.^[18]

South African Airways Voyager members can redeem SAA Voyager miles with Mango, but are not yet able to earn SAA Voyager miles with Mango. No other SAA Voyager benefits, such as additional baggage, upgrades or lounge access are applicable when using SAA Voyager miles to pay for a Mango flight.^[19]