South African Airways (SAA) is to codeshare with Virgin Australia allowing the South African airline to resume serving Sydney.
SAA lost access to Sydney after Qantas, with effect from May 31, axed its codeshare agreement where Qantas codeshared on SAA Perth-Johannesburg services and SAA codeshared on Qantas’s Sydney-Johannesburg flights. In turn the termination of that agreement followed SAA inking codeshare agreements with Virgin Australia covering connecting flights for its Perth services to Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
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“We have had a tremendous response since we first announced our new relationship with Virgin Australia in early February whereby SAA places its code onto Virgin Australia’s flights connecting with SAAs operation out of and into Perth,” SAA country manager Australasia Tim Clyde-Smith said.
“This new development greatly enhances our ability to serve our loyal customers and work with our travel partners in New South Wales.”
Why don’t they just get a slot at Sydney? In years past, SAA used to do Johannesburg/Perth /Sydney return as SA 280 & SA 281. That was when they less fuel efficient aircraft as well. I am not certain their customers wil want to offload at Perth and transfer over to the domestic airport.
B G Price
says:
A JNB SYD operation with the A340 would not be economical (although I may stand corrected) and they don’t have anything else to do the job as far as I am aware.
financially they are in dire straits having lost $2 billion in 10years I read the other day.
Probably the new arrangement is the best of a bad lot
Dee
says:
Same as flying to SYD to catch the QF flight, from MEL or BNE, Chiller38.
Jarrad
says:
Once the new Virgin terminal opens at Perth Airport, it’ll benefit VA hugely being right next to the international terminal, making it much easier to transfer with codeshare partners.
Chiller38
says:Why don’t they just get a slot at Sydney? In years past, SAA used to do Johannesburg/Perth /Sydney return as SA 280 & SA 281. That was when they less fuel efficient aircraft as well. I am not certain their customers wil want to offload at Perth and transfer over to the domestic airport.
B G Price
says:A JNB SYD operation with the A340 would not be economical (although I may stand corrected) and they don’t have anything else to do the job as far as I am aware.
financially they are in dire straits having lost $2 billion in 10years I read the other day.
Probably the new arrangement is the best of a bad lot
Dee
says:Same as flying to SYD to catch the QF flight, from MEL or BNE, Chiller38.
Jarrad
says:Once the new Virgin terminal opens at Perth Airport, it’ll benefit VA hugely being right next to the international terminal, making it much easier to transfer with codeshare partners.