In a sign of confidence in the Australian market, South African Airways will move to daily flights out of Perth, Western Australia from September 1, 2009.
According to Thevan Krishna, SAA’s Head of Australasia, the move reflects the airline’s strong support for the Wallaby route and recognition that more Australians are visiting Africa for business and pleasure.
“We have been very pleased with our performance so far this year under very trying circumstances,” Thevan said this week. “Despite the global recession, SAA has seen good returns with recreational, business and VFR traffic all maintaining strength. Africa offers a very different but value-for-money experience with excellent facilities and the most comprehensive internal route network served by our airline.”
“Having a daily flight from Perth will increase the range of options for our passengers and add capacity for the travel trade to take advantage of and meet increased demand,” he said.
“This means we will now have 13 weekly flights from Australia to South Africa, six from Sydney and seven from Perth. The changes to our timetable out of Perth in April have also resulted in much better connections to the rest of the African continent from Johannesburg with many more people choosing to travel to Europe, South America and the US via South Africa.”
“We are also seeing great results from our decision to introduce an interline agreement with Virgin Blue Australia which gives passengers more choices and travel options for their domestic travel.”
Thevan said the new flights would depart at 23h50 on weekdays to meet African and South American connecting flights and at 11h20 on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to SAA’s flagship A340-600 aircraft the A340-200 aircraft will also be used on the route.
“We’re delighted to be announcing this news and to welcoming many more Aussies on board SAA in the future, particularly as we see excitement building for the Football World Cup in 2010,” Thevan concluded.
For more information on SAA flights and reservations please call 1300 435 972 or www.flysaa.com
SAA currently flies non-stop from Perth to Johannesburg five times a week and six times a week from Sydney. SAA flies to 39 cities in 29 countries on six continents and is the leading carrier in Africa. New Zealand passengers can connect through Sydney or Perth for the fastest way to reach the African continent. SAA is consistently voted the 'Best Airline & Cabin Crew in Africa', winning it again for the 15th consecutive year in the Travel Weekly Globe Awards in London. SAA took out top honours at the World Travel Awards in London, winning three awards in the Africa category. SAA is a member of STAR, the world’s largest and most comprehensive airline alliance consisting of 18 of the world’s leading airlines and 842 airport destinations across 155 countries.
