South African Airways (SAA) has announced a major expansion of flights within Africa, with the launch of services to several emerging destinations.
According to SAA’s Head of Australasia, Thevan Krishna, the airline will launch new operations to Bujumbura (Burundi), Kigali (Rwanda) and Cotonou (Benin) from 31 October this year.
“Our Africa growth strategy aims to strengthen already-profitable routes and introduce new destinations, especially to African locations with currently limited air services,” Krishna said.
“Adding three new African destinations will enhance our already expansive route network. We aim to increase travel options for the convenience of our customers and ensure South Africa remains a major destination in its own right as well as a key transit point for connecting long-haul international traffic to regional African locations.
“Australians are increasingly interested in more than the standard recreational holiday experience in Africa, and these new destinations (complementing our already comprehensive network) give even more choice,” he said.
Krishna said the new services came on the back of network changes earlier this year.
“Other improvements made to our network earlier in the year include increased frequencies to Entebbe, Uganda from March (from six to daily flights) with the introduction of a Tuesday service. An additional flight to Harare, Zimbabwe operating on Tuesdays was added, bringing the total number of frequencies to 18 per week. Larger aircraft are now also operating on certain flights to Nairobi (Kenya) and Windhoek (Namibia). All in all we have continued to invest in better service and equipment on all routes as we continue to grow our reach into Africa,” he said.