SAA to expand capacity ahead of holiday season
As South Africa’s peak holiday season approaches, SAA announced that it would bring into service an additional three A320 aircraft to support the high capacity demand. SAA is keen to return to service and get its recent Takatso deal off the ground after a tumultuous few years of constant government bailouts.
‘SAA as the national flag carrier and an entity wholly owned by the people of South Africa has a responsibility to secure the sustainability of the airline industry in South Africa as an enabler of economic development and facilitator of affordable air travel to all users of air transportation in the country,’ said SAA Executive Chairman, Professor John Lamola.
‘The addition of extra seat capacity in the market enables the achievement of an equilibrium between supply and demand in the market that affects the pricing of air tickets.’
Besides this additional capacity, SAA has increased its capacity over the last two weeks on two of our busiest routes, Cape Town and Harare. The Harare- Johannesburg route is now serviced by the larger A330 aircraft on three of its seven-day weekly frequencies.
SAA’s current business plan is to aggressively ramp up operations and implement a fleet strategy that will continue to gain momentum in growing its regional-continental services and introduce international-long haul services, the statement said.
