Africa gateway

SA Airways' Africa route network grows

27 June 2012

South African Airways (SAA) is set to add two new destinations, Abidjan and Brazzaville, to its ever-increasing African route network, bringing the total number of destinations that SAA serves on the continent to 28.

SAA will introduce twice-weekly services to Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire from 17 August, and to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo from 13 September, the airline announced on Tuesday.

Counting Abidjan and Brazzaville, South Africa's national carrier has now added seven new African destinations to its network since October. Cotonou in Benin and Pointe Noire, Congo were other recent additions.

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's economic capital and largest city, is the third-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris and Kinshasa, and is considered a cultural hub of Francophone West Africa.

The Abidjan flights will be added as an extension to SAA's Accra, Ghana flights on Tuesdays and Fridays.

"In addition, SAA has also secured traffic rights between Accra and Abidjan, which enables the carrier to serve customers flying between these two cities in either direction," the airline said in a statement.

Brazzaville is the financial and administrative capital of the Republic of Congo. Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Brazzaville. Together with Kinshasa, the combined metropolitan area of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has nearly 12-million inhabitants.

The Brazzaville route will be served using an Airbus A319-200 aircraft, while the Abidjan service will be operated on the same Airbus A330-200 widebody aircraft that serves Accra.

"Both markets are scheduled to fit optimally with the arrival and departure of SAA's international flights at OR Tambo International Airport, thereby offering passengers convenient connections through Johannesburg."

Theunis Potgieter, SAA's general manager commercial, said the airline was "focused on ensuring that connections to developing African business and leisure hubs are strengthened."

SAinfo reporter