South African Airways (SAA) will commence services to three new destinations in Southern Africa and ramp up its frequencies on existing routes ahead of the festive season, the flag carrier announced in a recent statement.
SAA will introduce regional and domestic services to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Windhoek in Namibia, and South African coastal city, Ggeberha.
The airline will begin services to Windhoek, Namibia from December 8, 2022, operating two daily flights to the Namibian capital for seven days a week, while its services to Victoria Falls will start from December 14, 2022, with six weekly flights, the airline added.
SAA’s domestic service to Gqeberha, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, will commence from December 12, 2022
Increased frequencies in time for the festive season
Alongside its new routes, SAA has increased its frequency to Harare, Zimbabwe to 10 weekly flights, up from seven weekly flights, and seven weekly flights to Mauritius, up from four weekly flights to meet travel demand for the festive season.
John Lamola, SAA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented on SAA expanding its operating network and its progress towards restarting its operations post-COVID.
“In pursuit of this drive to please our customers, we are relentlessly working on expanding the network of destinations we serve, to enhance seamless travel connectivity. Our new routes along with increased frequencies to our regional destinations, represent the second phase of our post-Covid restart operations,” Lamola said.
South African Airways restarted its commercial operations in September 2021, having cut its workforce by 80% and reduced its fleet size by 75%. This followed the airline’s business rescue proceedings which it entered on December 6, 2019 and concluded on April 30, 2021.
As part of SAA’s efforts to re-enter some of its traditional regional markets and open new routes, the flag carrier aims to bring back its long-haul flights and restart its intercontinental services in the first quarter of 2023.