SAA named official carrier for SA national football teams

Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana to fly high

South African Airways (SAA) has partnered with the South African Football Association (SAFA) to be the official carrier for South Africa’s national football teams, Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana. 

According to Travel News, the new partnership took effect from 1 June and will see SAA transport the national teams to their upcoming destinations for their international matches. 

Professor John Lamola, Interim CEO of SAA said that they looked to the new partnership.

“We welcome our national teams on board, and we look forward to flying them around the world on national duty to represent our nation.  We know the players and officials will be well taken care of and will enjoy our award-winning hospitality that SAA is renowned for,” Lamola said as per Travel News.

MORE BRAZILIANS HEAD FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SHORES WITH SAA

In other recent SAA news, the airlines successful launch of flights between São Paulo and both Cape Town and Johannesburg in October and November last year saw arrivals from South America significantly increased since take off.

As per Tourism Update, South African Airways Spokesperson, Khaya Buthelezi said that around 16 800 passengers had made their way to and from Brazil during the first 90 days of of the airline operating the new route.

“According to the tourism authorities in the Western Cape, for the first three months following the inaugural flight from Cape Town, there has been a 370% increase in two-way passenger traffic between Cape Town and Brazil. These numbers speak volumes regarding the latent demand between the two destinations,” Buthelezi said as per Tourism Update.

The current routes take off from both Cape Town and Johannesburg four times a week, with flights from Cape Town going out on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Johannesburg flights scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays.