South African Airways (SAA) plans to change its operations strategy for its international markets: with the carrier looking to establish a dual-hub model offering long-haul services from Johannesburg (JNB) and Cape Town (CPT), as the company re-enters the intercontinental segment. Prior to the pandemic, the airline had all its operations centered at O.R. Tambo Airport (JNB).
«Cape Town has developed significantly as a second hub in Southern Africa, and for us, it no longer makes sense to continue with our pre-business rescue plan (BRP) of a hub and pandemic strategy. And our strategy also includes establishing centers in the north of our home,» said Tebogo Tsimane, acting head of SAA.
Tsimane told ch-aviation that following the restructuring process and the company’s ongoing partial privatization process, SAA would re-enter intercontinental markets with caution. The South African airline recently announced a pan-African partnership with Kenya Airways, with the intention of expanding its international operations.
The interim boss has yet to confirm which long-haul routes would return yet confirmed that Hong Kong (HKG) was not part of the initial plans. Tsimane told him that its initial plans to start its initial routes by March 2023 were as follows:
From Cape Town (CPT): New York, United States (JFK), Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU) and at least one Australian city (Sydney and/or Perth).
From Johannesburg (JNB): Perth (PER) and Washington – Dulles (IAD) via Accra (ACC).
No plans have yet been shown to fly to Europe, prior to the pandemic SAA flew to Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC) and London (LHR), where the company still has 14 slot pairs at Heathrow Airport (LHR).
On the aircraft fleet plan for intercontinental flights, Tsimane commented: «The restart plan, which is very conservative and in no way addresses the airline’s long-term fleet needs, is based on the familiar Airbus aircraft flown by our current crew and is still an interim fleet». The airline will announce the appropriate aircraft for its long-haul missions and long-term fleet plans in the future.
South African Airways aircraft fleet
Retrieved via ch-aviation.com
- 3 Airbus A319
- 2 Airbus A320ceo
- 1 Airbus A330-300
- 1 Airbus A340-300
SAA continues to make decisions regarding its privatization, it expects soon to have Takatso as a strategic partner, this new partnership is still under regulatory approval by the South African Competition Commission.
«The process for the Takatso Consortium to become SAA’s strategic equity partner with a 51% stake in the airline continues. Currently, the process is at the regulatory step of the Competition Commission,» Tsimane said.
See also: South African Airways in talks with British Airways over Comair franchise
