South African Airways Celebrates a Decade as Member of Global Airline Network
JOHANNESBURG. 20 April 2016. South African Airways this month celebrates a decade as member of Star Alliance, the world’s longest serving and most experienced global airline alliance.
SAA was the first African airline to join the global network in 2006, providing other Alliance partners access to SAA’s extensive route network within South Africa and into the rest of the African continent.
“South African Airways gave Star Alliance a first and strategic/prominent foothold in Africa, which today is recognised as one of the most significant growth markets for international trade and aviation,” said Star Alliance CEO, Mark Schwab. “We congratulate the airline on its 10 year anniversary as part of the Star Alliance family, thank its staff for serving Star Alliance customers well every day for a decade and look forward to continued fruitful co-operation in the years to come.”
Star Alliance was founded with five member airlines in 1997. Today its membership totals 28, including three strong airlines in Africa. SAA’s membership in the Alliance offers its customers a host of advantages, ranging from access to the extended (Alliance) global network to worldwide benefits such as lounge access for passengers travelling in Business Class or with Voyager Lifetime Platinum, Platinum, or Gold status, which equates to Star Alliance Gold status.
“Star Alliance members offer our customers the assurance that when they fly with SAA, or any of the member airlines, they fly with airlines that adhere to certain standards as part of their high value offering to the customers they serve,” says Tlali Tlali, SAA Spokesperson.
“Our decade long membership is a major achievement and the anniversary comes at a time where the Alliance has reached a high level of maturity. We remain focused on increasing our participation in the Alliance to ensure that we extract the fullest possible value from our membership for our airline and for our customers,” says Tlali.
Member airlines of the Alliance, offer an agreed set of aligned customer benefits and products at defined quality standards across the entire network. The member airlines’ success in satisfying their customers is measured on a regular basis, in part by the use of an on-line survey mailed to frequent flyers, calling for feedback on overall satisfaction of their travel experience, including on customer touch points such as boarding, departure, baggage handling, and other services.
“We constantly strive to improve on these touch points across our business, and welcome the Quality Initiative project by Star Alliance.
“The project continually analyses customer satisfaction regarding all products and services of Star Alliance along the travel experience (as well as the individual performance of each member airline) and customers’ fulfilment of the Star Alliance promise,” elaborates Tlali.
In addition, there are other compliance requirements to ensure that SAA and other member carriers comply with various high and strict safety, maintenance, and passenger service standards, and other requirements set by the international regulatory organisations such as IATA.
“It is a matter of immense national pride that SAA remains a valued member of Star Alliance, maintaining exceptionally high international standards and contributing to the success of the Alliance.
“Established as the first truly global airline network to offer worldwide reach, recognition, and seamless service to the international traveller, Star Alliance has grown to have a presence in more than 192 countries, serving 1, 330 airports with 18, 500 daily departures. This is such a compelling value proposition and a truly comprehensive offering to our customers,” concludes Tlali.
Star Alliance’s acceptance by and contribution to the aviation market landscape has been recognised by numerous industry awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax.
-ENDS-
Issued by SAA Group Corporate Affairs
About South African Airways:
South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 74 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, SA Airlink, and its low cost carrier, Mango, within South Africa and across the continent, and nine intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA’s core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; and Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa’ Award in the regional category for thirteen consecutive years and the winner of ‘Best Airline staff in Africa’ for four years. SAA has been named the coolest domestic airline at the Sunday Times Generation Next Awards.
About Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition, and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brasil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,330 airports in 192 countries.
For media information, please contact:
SAA Spokesperson
Tlali Tlali
Email: TlaliTlali@flysaa.com
Mobile: +27 82 333 3880
Office: +27 11 978 2298
Web: www.flysaa.com
Star Alliance Press Office
Email: mediarelations@staralliance.com,
Tel: +49 69 96375 183,
Fax: +49 69 96375 683
Web: www.staralliance.com