Travel Trade will be Front and Centre of SAA’s plans
Africa’s travel and tourism trade will be key to South African Airways’ strategy in connecting the continent. The Airline’s Commercial Director Simon Newton-Smith has said.
The Airline in a breakfast meeting with trade partners and stakeholders on the sidelines of last week’s Africa’s Travel Indaba revealed several initiatives the carrier has embarked on since its return to the skies on September 23, 2021.
Addressing the issues at the breakfast engagement, Simon Newton-Smith said, it’s been tough 2 years for every business and SAA was happy to have relaunched to bring competitive services to the travel market.
‘” The travel and tourism trade will be front and Centre of SAA’s plans and by so doing the airline will be able to incorporate some services the market demands.
“Our primary focus is building our network in Africa and that will also mean doing the simple things right.
“It’s our job as African airlines to connect the continent; thus, the collaboration and partnership will be essential ingredients in making travel seamless in the region.”
Touching on the recently announced partnership deal with Kenya Airways, Mr. Newton-Smith said plans are far advanced and barring any unforeseen eventuality by June 2023, SAA and KQ would have harmonized network pricing which will guarantee far better connectivity than we have now.
The partnership with Kenya Airways is one of the many initiatives the SA flag carrier is looking at in Africa to reach the length and breadth of the continent.
The Commercial Director of SAA also paid glowing tribute to Former CEO Thomas Kgokolo for his sterling leadership and professionalism in overseeing the restart of South African Airways.
The Airline currently operates international flights from Johannesburg to (JNB) to six African capitals: Accra (ACC) in Ghana, Lagos (LOS) in Nigeria Kinshasa (FIH) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Harare (HRE) in Zimbabwe, Lusaka (LUN) in Zambia and Port Lois (MRU) in Mauritius.
