JOHANNESBURG. 31 July 2014. South African Airways (SAA) is adding to its already extensive African flight schedule to offer customers more travel options on the continent.
The most recent change is an increase on the Johannesburg–Lagos route, where the airline will offer eight (8) frequencies per week, effective 2 September Johannesburg – Lagos and effective 3 September Lagos – Johannesburg.
“All flights will be operated with a long-haul Airbus aircraft offering lie-flat seats in Business Class, which we anticipate will be welcomed by our Business Class travellers, as we have seen a tremendous growth in demand for premium travel in Africa,” says Kendy Phohleli, SAA General Manager Commercial (Acting).
The new schedule will provide greater/additional connectivity to the SAA network and accommodate the current passenger and cargo demand SAA is experiencing on the route. Additionally, it will offer seamless travel for passengers en-route to Perth (Australia), Hong Kong and mainland China.
• The new flight on Tuesdays, SA080, will depart Johannesburg at 23h00 to arrive in Lagos at 04h15 the following day. Arrival is 04h25 in Summer and 0415 Winter (Northern Season)
• SA081 returns on Wednesdays from Lagos departing at 08h00, to arrive back in Johannesburg at 14h55. Arrival is 14h45 in Summer and 1455 Winter (Northern Season)
“The increase on the Lagos route follows on previous increases to the airline’s Africa route network, in keeping with SAA’s Gaining Altitude strategy, where the focus is on strengthening our presence in Africa,” says Phohleli.
Africa routes on which frequencies were recently increased include:
Johannesburg – Harare (18-19 per week);
Johannesburg – Lusaka (20 to 21);
Johannesburg - Abidjan (from two to three per week);
Johannesburg – Blantyre (from two to three per week);
Johannesburg - Dar es Salaam (from 13 to 14 per week);
Johannesburg - Kinshasa (from four to six per week);
Johannesburg - Nairobi (from 10 to 11 per week);
Johannesburg - Ndola (three to four per week); and
Johannesburg - Windhoek (20 to 21 per week).
SAA has also made changes to its international route network, where frequencies on the route between Johannesburg and Mumbai have been reduced by one per week to six weekly frequencies, (effective from 1 July 2014). SAA will, however, offer the same number of seats as a bigger aircraft will be used on the Mumbai route.
“The Tuesday Mumbai departure will no longer be operated as this flight historically shows low demand, which is a change also aligned with SAA’s Gaining Altitude strategy, where frequencies on low-performing routes are adjusted in line with our key strategic objective to achieve, and maintain, commercial sustainability, while supporting South Africa’s development agenda,” says Phohleli.
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About South African Airways
South African Airways (SAA), Africa’s most awarded airline, operates to 40 destinations worldwide.
In its domestic market SAA has an extensive schedule operating 554 flights in total per week between Johannesburg – Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth, from its Johannesburg hub, as well as code-shared flights between Lanseria – Cape Town and Durban. SAA offers more frequencies than any other airline in South Africa.
Regionally, SAA offers 24 destinations across the African continent including Abidjan, Accra, Blantyre, Brazzaville, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Douala, Entebbe, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe, Livingstone, Luanda, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Ndola, Pointe Noire, Victoria Falls and Windhoek.
SAA’s international network creates links to all major continents from South Africa through 10 direct routes and code shares, with daily flights from Johannesburg to London (Heathrow), Frankfurt, Munich, Mumbai, Perth, Hong Kong, Beijing, New York, Washington, and Sao Paulo. SAA has codes share agreements with 29 other airlines across the markets it serves. The airline has extended its code share agreement with Mango, its low cost operator, to also include coastal cities in South Africa (between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and George), as well as Johannesburg – Bloemfontein; Cape Town - Bloemfontein and Cape Town - Port Elizabeth.
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 four wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA and South African Travel Centre (SATC).
SAA is a Star Alliance member which offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa’ Award in the regional category for eleven consecutive years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa’s most on-time airlines.
For more information contact:
SAA
Tlali Tlali (Mr)
SAA spokesperson
Mob: +27 82 333 3880
Email: TlaliTlali@flysaa.com