SAA and Qantas have
cancelled their codeshare
agreement, effective May
31 – a surprising move as both
carriers fought for years to
sustain it despite regulators’
reluctance to extend the
codeshare. The move has left
many questions as to what
will now happen on the South
Africa-Australia route.
Some speculate that both
carriers will cut the route,
relying on codeshares and
partnerships with other airlines
to service these markets.
Cash-strapped Qantas is
expected to post a loss of
around AU$300m (R2,9bn) for
the rst half of the 2013/14
nancial year. A drastic
reduction in staff is also
expected to be announced,
with between 1 000 and
3 000 jobs on the line. These
announcements have led
to predictions in Australian
newspapers that Qantas might
axe its Sydney-Johannesburg
route, which operates using a
fuel-thirsty B747-400, as one
of many measures to curtail
the airline’s nancial losses.
However, Michi Messner,
Qantas’s regional manager
for Africa, told TNW the airline
would continue to y direct to
Sydney from Johannesburg,
with no change to the daily
service operated by B747
aircraft (QF63/64). “Qantas
has a strong relationship with
South African Tourism and
state tourism organisations
and is committed to a range
of marketing initiatives to
promote South Africa as a
destination.”
Would SAA consider
scrapping its route to Perth?
Jim Weighell, corporate
manager of Sure Travel, says:
“Given that SAA has said
all its international routes
are loss-making, one should
consider whether the JNB-PER
route is at risk. Not many
years ago, it would have
been considered unthinkable
for SAA to have withdrawn
services and reduced capacity
on the London route but
they have. Perth is probably
under scrutiny too, unless the
government deems it to be a
strategic destination.”
However, in the light of SAA’s
recent codeshare agreement
with Virgin Australia, it’s
unlikely. Spokesperson for
SAA, Tlali Tlali, says: “We are
currently focusing our energies
on the Virgin Australia
codeshare implementation that
will enable Sydney passengers
to connect on our Perth
operations to Johannesburg.”
Then there’s the issue of
pricing – will the change mean
a hike or drop in airfares?
Qantas and SAA now hold the
monopoly over the Sydney and
Perth route respectively. Chris
Zweigenthal, ce of Aasa, says:
“It could go either way. One
could argue that because of
the previous alleged duopoly of
Qantas and SAA, prices were
high because they say there
was insufcient competition.
Alternatively, now that they
operate separate services,
they will compete more and
fares could go down. Time will
tell. My view is that not much
will change.”
According to Chris, there
are quite a lot of options for
travellers between South Africa
and Australia, making it quite
a competitive market. “I think
that the value of alliances
and codeshare agreements
to enhance airline networks
and the provision of options
for passengers is not always
fully appreciated. There is
competition on the route,
for example to Australia via
the UAE, via Mauritius or
Singapore and Hong Kong.”
John Ridler, spokesperson
for Cullinan Outbound Tourism,
agrees: “It is unlikely that the
fares will rise noticeably as
there is healthy competition
from Far East carriers.
Travellers can choose
between the direct ights into
Sydney and Perth (with good
connections to Melbourne) or
extend their holiday and y via
the Far East or Mauritius.”
All Qantas customers
with existing bookings on
Qantas codeshare services
operated by SAA (with a
‘QF’ ight number) between
Johannesburg and Perth for
travel on or after June 1
will be re-accommodated.
All SAA-ticketed codeshare
passengers on the Qantas
ight will be accommodated
on to ight QF064 and QF063
and transported to their nal
destination.
All SAA un-ticketed
codeshare passengers who
had booked SA7700 and
SA7701 on JohannesburgSydney-Johannesburg
will be
re-accommodated on SAA’s
Perth operations with the
ticketing agent, using the most
convenient option available
for the onward connection to
Sydney that is permitted within
the conditions of the fare
conditions.
See Travelinfo for more
details.
