South African Airways (SAA) is to increase capacity on more than half its routes in Africa as part of a bid to reverse its flagging fortunes, the national carrier announced on Tuesday.
A week after the airline said 2 000 jobs could be on the line as part of a restructuring programme, general commercial manager Rushj Lehutso said SAA would either increase the number of flights or the size of its aircraft serving 11 of its 19 African destinations.
“Not only will this play an important role in helping to restore SAA to profitability over the coming 12 to 18 months, it will also facilitate the growth of tourism in Africa,” Lehutso told reporters in Johannesburg.
Part of the expansion is being fuelled by growing demand for access to some of the continent’s emerging oil giants.
The number of flights from Johannesburg to the Angolan capital, Luanda, the company’s most lucrative route, will be increased by 25%, while a new service to Libreville in Gabon was also planned.
Lehutso said countries rich in oil had become prime business destinations in Africa, with over a million passengers carried in the last financial year.
Flights and capacity will also be increased to Nairobi, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Port Louis, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Gaborone, Windhoek, Kinshasa and Abidjan.
The government-owned airline announced earlier this month it could eliminate up to 2 000 jobs as part of a restructuring programme through which it plans to save R638-million in operating costs.
SAA posted an R883-million loss in June, has already closed its Zurich route and would cease flying to Paris at the end of October as part of the process.
It has, however,also launched new flights to Munich.
“The restructuring is not only a cost-cutting exercise, it is also about the growth of the airline,” said Lehutso. — AFP