State-owned national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) is making preparations for the resumption of domestic air flights, between Johannesburg and Cape Town. It is seeking to be operationally ready for the restart of this route in the middle of next month, should this be authorised.
However, the airline is also, with immediate effect, cancelling all its regional and international services until the end of next month. This is because of the widespread international restrictions on air travel, imposed to counter the Covid-19 pandemic. Such restrictions make it impossible to sustainably resume flights beyond the country’s borders.
“Everyone at SAA is looking forward to welcoming and serving our customers once again,” affirms SAA chief commercial officer Philip Saunders. “Our operational preparedness is underlined by the significant role the airline has played in global repatriations to and from South Africa and by our desire to serve the domestic market.”
The airline is committed to restarting its operations incrementally. It would issue regular updates on its progress.
Any SAA customers in possession of unused tickets for these flights currently do not need to contact the airline. All those with SAA tickets will be able to make use of the full value of these tickets as credits for flying on any service by SAA up to and including March 24, 2022.
The airline will also allow the names on tickets to be changed, free of charge, if a customer no longer desires to travel. “This represents an important part of SAA’s continued commitment to support our customers in these unprecedented times,” said the airline.