Finally! SAA sets date for restart of intercontinental flights

After a lengthy absence on the international scene, SA’s national carrier South African Airways (SAA) will soon be jetting off to another continent.

SAA is rebuilding its international network. The carrier will relaunch its first intercontinental route since restarting operations as a smaller airline nearly 2 years ago.

INTERNATIONAL ROUTE

The airline’s first intercontinental scheduled services since restarting In September 2021 will link Johannesburg and Cape Town to São Paulo in Brazil.

“We are overjoyed to announce São Paulo as our first international destination since the airline successfully emerged from an intensive business rescue process and COVID-19 lockdown. It also marks the return of our long-haul services out of Cape Town,” said SAA’s interim CEO, Professor John Lamola, per Tourism Update.

FLYING TO BRAZIL

South African Airways has announced the launch of two new routes to Brazil. The carrier will fly to São Paulo from both Johannesburg and Cape Town.

SAA will launch flights from Cape Town on 31 October, while the Johannesburg-São Paulo service will commence on 6 November.

VIABILITY OF ROUTE

South African Airways’ decision to relaunch Brazil flights is based on data that points to the route being economically viable for the airline.

“Our decision to begin the relaunch of our long-haul service with São Paulo was taken based on a rigorous analysis of the viability of the route. Sustainability has been at the heart of SAA’s approach since our restart.” Lamola said, per Tourism Update.

When the national carrier was placed into business rescue in March 2020 it was announced that it would emerge as a self-sustaining operation.

Leadership at South African Airways has a responsibility to wean the carrier off government funding. The airline’s leadership recently reported that the airline had made a profit this year.

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SCALING UP

The restructured airline restarted scheduled operations in September 2021 but on a much smaller scale. The airline has a small but growing route network.

“We have 12 routes, two of them inside the country, domestic routes from Durban to Johannesburg and Cape Town to Johannesburg, and then quite a number of African regional routes, in fact, ten of them.” Hanekom said, per Biznews.

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INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

Prior to its grounding at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, South African Airways operated flights to several international destinations.

According to Simple Flying, SAA flew to 19 international destinations. Regional destinations included Harare, Lusaka and Maputo. Its intercontinental destinations included Frankfurt, Washington, New York, and London Heathrow.

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