Emirates and South African Airways (SAA) announced an expansion of their codeshare partnership, last week.
The codeshare agreement, will allow Emirates and SAA access to nine cities.
The new agreement will see Emirates place its code on SAA-operated flights, extending its network deeper into South Africa and neighbouring countries.
Matshela Seshibe, Acting Group CEO of SAA, said, “the expansion of our partnership with Emirates marks an important milestone in SAA’s strategy to strengthen connectivity across Africa while enhancing access to global markets. Through this reciprocal codeshare agreement, customers will benefit from a more seamless travel experience and greater choice across our combined networks.”
The expansion covers nine new routes including three domestic South African links connecting Johannesburg with Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, in addition to six regional routes linking Johannesburg with Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Gaborone (Botswana), Windhoek (Namibia), Lusaka (Zambia), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe).
Emirates and South African Airways have been partners for almost 30 years.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, said, “this reciprocal codeshare partnership with South African Airways is a natural evolution of a relationship that has served our customers well for many years. By placing our code on SAA’s domestic and regional network, we are opening seamless access to destinations across South Africa and neighbouring countries, backed by the reliability and consistency our customers expect from Emirates. It reinforces our long-term commitment to South Africa and the wider region, and our confidence in the continent’s continued growth.”
Picture from left:Adnan Kazim and Matshela Seshibe.