SAA will not give up its
domestic services. The airline
has refuted a speculative
report in the Sunday Times
that suggested the airline
had “hinted that it may drop
all local and short-haul, ‘fullservice’
flights, making way for
its low-cost carrier, Mango, to
fill the gap”.
The story caused a
commotion among travel
agents and their clients. New
domestic carrier, Skywise,
jumped on the bandwagon,
releasing a statement saying
the LCC had “learned with
concern the breaking news
of SAA’s intention to cease
operating its domestic routes”
and that “unfortunate as the
situation appear[ed], Skywise,
like any other competitor,
welcome[d] taking up the
challenge by filling SAA’s big
shoes”.
Tlali Tlali, spokesperson
for SAA, told TNW: “This is
not the case at all. The SAA
Group, which comprises SAA
and Mango as well as airlines
such as SAX and Airlink
that carry the SAA code,
will continue to service all
South African network points
optimally and efficiently.
“SAA will continue to operate
in the domestic market. There
is no decision to pull out of
any of the routes or points
we serve in the domestic
market.”
SAA hosted a media
lunch last week with Nico
Bezuidenhout, SAA acting ceo,
who updated attendees on
SAA’s 90-Day Action Plan. At
the lunch, at which TNW was
present, Nico said the airline
was looking at rebalancing its
domestic capacity versus its
African capacity.
He said SAA had generated
losses in the domestic
market, while Mango had seen
a profit and – like airlines
such as British Airways, Air
France and Lufthansa, which
were changing their short haul
stable to develop their LCC
subsidiaries – SAA would need
to adjust its output in the
domestic market.
“Currently, SAA has 60% of
its aircraft assigned to the
domestic market, whereas it
has less than 30% assigned
to its African routes. Yet it
is clear that there is greater
demand and higher margins in
the African market, where SAA
is seeing the highest growth
from a low base,” he said.
