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Mango extends its wings

18 December 2013

South African Airways and its low-cost operator Mango have extended their code share agreement to include other coastal cities in South Africa as well as Bloemfontein, SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new routes have been effective since 13 December.

SAA and Mango already have a code share agreement in place for flights between Cape Town and Durban, as well as on the route between Lanseria Airport outside Johannesburg and Cape Town.

This will be extended to include the routes between Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and George. Other routes to be included are those between Cape Town and Bloemfontein, and Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Tlali said.

Mango will continue to be the operating carrier with SAA placing its code "SA" on the above flights as the marketing carrier. SAA customers will travel on a ticket starting with "SA", while Mango customers will travel on a ticket starting with a "JE" code.

Voyager members will earn miles only if they book their flights on the SAA flight number, Tlali said. This is the case on the Mango flights between Durban and Cape Town, and between Lanseria and Cape Town.

"The new agreement represents an expansion of an existing, successful code share partnership, in place since 2010 between Cape Town and Durban as well as from Lanseria to Cape Town," said Kendy Phohleli, SAA's acting general manager. "It is in line with strategic imperatives as indicated in Gaining Altitude, SAA's long-term turnaround strategy, whereby focus is placed on intra-group operational efficiency and commercial impetus."

Nico Bezuidenhout, Mango's chief executive, said the success of existing code-share activities boded well for further growth. "By adding greater network choice through collaboration, not only will SAA passengers benefit, but commercially it represents a giant leap forward for both brands."

Source: SA Airways