South African Airways

South African Airways,  the national flag carrier of South Africa  is today truly connecting the world to Africa. It is one of the most progressive and dynamic airlines of today with an impeccable safety record, state of the art planes and affordability nonetheless that surpasses all its qualities. It has a range of destination world over that it serves from its hub in Johannesburg. It also focuses on Cape town and many of its flights originate from Cape town as well.

South African Airways History

South African Airways was founded in 1934 when the South African government took over Union Airways. During apartheid, it faced sanctions from the African countries. But that came as a blessing in disguise as the airline started to plan on long haul basis and grew out of southern Africa travel market to expand to the rest of the world. During this era, it was also recognised by its Afrikaans name, Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens (SAL). The name was dropped in 1997, in favour of South African Airways, which is the name till today.

The name brought new colours to the airline. The airline went through major re branding in 1997. With the name changed the image, emblems, fleet and the whole brand as we know it today. This major re-branding was also paired with the airline joining Star Alliance. Till 2006 though, the airline still worked in conjunction with Transnet. But in 2016 it detached itself from Transnet to become an independent airline.

The airline now also owns a subsidiary Mango Airlines (which is a popular option for travelling inside South Africa) and also has shares in Airlink and South African Express. These airlines fly to local and regional and domestic destinations independently or under the SAA umbrella. South African Airways is one of the oldest airlines of the world and yet one of the safest as well. It only had one fatal incident in 1987.

South African Airways Facts

Hub: OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg.

Frequent Flyer Programme: Voyger

Sky Trax rating: 4 Star

Fleet Size: 51

Destinations: 36

Passenger Count Per Year: 6.8 million

Daily Flights Count: 178

Fleet Type: Airbus A340-600, Airbus 340-300e, Airbus A319-100, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 747

In Flig Winner of Best Airline Africa Award for 6 consecutive years including 2011

Domestic Destinations:

African Destinations:

1. Luanda, Angola
2. Douala, Cameroon
3. Kinshasa, DRC
4. Libreville, Gabon
5. Nairobi, Kenya
6. Blantyre, Malawi
7. Lilongwe, Malawi
8. Mauritius, Mauritius Island
9. Maputo, Mozambique
10. Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
11. Entebbe, Uganda
12. Gaborone, Botswana
13. Windhoek, Namibia
14. Lusaka, Zambia
15. Livingstone, Zambia
16. Harare, Zimbabwe
17. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
18. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
19. Accra, Ghana
20. Lagos, Nigeria
21. Dakar, Senegal

American Destinations:

1. Buenos Aires, Argrntina
2. Sao Paulo, Brazil
3. New York, USA
4. Washington DC, USA