South Africa’s struggling flag carrier is reducing its route network as part of a plan its managers hope will revitalize the business.

On Thursday, South African Airways released a statement announcing that it would end a number of domestic and international routes at the end of February.

The cuts include services from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, Munich and Sao Paulo, and all domestic flights aside from those between Johannesburg and Cape Town, though SAA will reduce its frequencies on that route. Flights to a number of African destinations are also being eliminated.

Flights to international destinations including New York, Washington, London and Frankfurt will remain on the schedule, and domestic flights operated by SAA’s low-cost subsidiary, Mango, will not be affected.

The cuts are part of the airline’s business rescue plan, which the government announced in December.

“The initiatives we are taking now will strengthen SAA’s business. We believe that this should provide reassurance to our loyal customers that SAA is moving in the right direction. We are focused on our mandate to restore SAA’s commercial health and create an airline that South Africans will be proud of,” the business rescue managers said in a statement.

For Robert W. Mann, an aviation analyst and consultant who has worked with SAA previously, this is just the latest chapter in what he described as a long and sad story of an airline struggling to thrive.

“Despite all the potential in the region, SAA and its regional SAX never managed to plan well, operate efficiently, or control their costs,” Mann said in an email. “There will no doubt be an impact on the South African economy and tourism.”
SAA said it would make every effort to limit the job losses as a result of this action.

If you’re still planning to fly the carrier, you could have wildly different experiences depending on which aircraft operates your route. Read some of TPG’s recent reviews to see what’s on offer.

Featured photo by JT Genter/The Points Guy

One cannot make a meal of a rotten carcass!

Fire the whole bloody lot in management, and hand it over to someone who is capable of running it.

I just hope that Harare and VF routes stay intact through the summer.

quote:

Originally posted by tanks:
I just hope that Harare and VF routes stay intact through the summer.

Thinking there will be another review and changes in April/May...

As suggested earlier, travelers/hunters should have been looking at different airlines to fly to their destinations. Traveling with firearms will be a challenge, as not all regional carriers transport firearms.

Looks like they will be an international carrier with a couple of domestic routes. That will increase profitability, but only if they also get rid of the dead weight payroll.

Well,well, well. That kind screws thing up for my travel in May. Time to do some scrambling.....

TRAVEL ALERT IF USING SOUTH AFRICA AIRWAYS
Feb 6, 2019 - SAA News Release
Changes to SAA’s Network

Following a careful analysis of SAA’s liquidity challenges and after consultations with all relevant stakeholders, the BRPs have identified which routes will be retained to drive the restructured national carrier towards profitability.

SAA will continue to operate all international services between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Perth and Washington via Accra.

Regional services to be retained include from Johannesburg to Blantyre, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Victoria Falls, Livingston and Windhoek.

On 29th February 2020, SAA will close the following regional and international services from Johannesburg to Abidjan via Accra, Entebbe, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Luanda, Munich, Ndola, and Sao Paulo.

On the domestic route network, SAA will continue to serve Cape Town on a reduced basis.

All other domestic destinations, including Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth, will cease to be operated by SAA on 29th February 2020. Domestic routes operated by Mango will not be affected by the changes.

All customers booked on any cancelled international and regional routes will receive a full refund. Customers booked on cancelled domestic flights will be re-accommodated on services operated by Mango.

SAA does not intend to make any further significant network changes. Passengers and travel agents can therefore feel confident about booking future travel with South African Airways.

The flight schedule for February remains unchanged. Please consult the website for further information.

My thinking is that hunters should use an international travel agent that specialize in firearm transit to assist you with your travels. However, I have met a few hunters that book their own travel. However it is a hunters decision on who to use, if any at all.

Hopefully, Hunters not using travel agents specializing in international travel with firearms are checking with their outfitter or PH's for assistance and updates for their travel so that the hunter are able to make changes in their travel.

While there are options with different airlines that service in country destinations, so there maybe choices available for you to use.

Not all airlines are authorized to transport firearms.

Three of us are flying Jo'Burg to Kimberley in early March. Flight are SAA flight numbers, but operated by South African Express. I called and spoke to an SAA agent this morning and here's what I learned: There is not yet any reaccommodation information or policy yet available; the flights we are on appear to still be taking place since the operator is South African Express.

That's all we know at present, and the airline or travel agent is supposed to let us know if there is any change to our itinerary. I looked at Mango Air as an alternative if it becomes necessary and the flights are to put it mildly - neither quick nor direct.