South Africa Airlines (SA, Johannesburg, or Tambo) has announced plans to launch a fifth free flight from Cape Town International (South Africa) to the US via Accra (Ghana) by the end of 2026 as part of West Africa's expansion strategy.
CEO John Lamora made the announcement at a meeting with the Ghanaian travel industry and the media on April 8th, Ghanaian radio station Joy FM reported. Lamola highlighted the importance of Accra as a strategic hub for the SAA.
“We are not only evaluating the possibility of starting a direct route between Ghana and Cape Town, but we are certainly using Accra by the end of next year as a connector to the east coast of US cities, as the SAA has done previously,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it takes a long time to get started on routes due to the regulatory process, but like with the rest of the airlines, our biggest challenge with SAA is the availability of aircraft. As soon as we got our aircraft, we did our research.
Although SAA currently does not serve the United States, it operated a non-stop flight from Johannesburg to New York JFK before taking part in the business rescue process in December 2019. Washington Dulles from Johannesburg relies on the day of the week via Accra in Senegal or Dakar Blaze Diagne International.
The SAA is also keen to increase flights of Johannesburg or Tambo ACCRA from four to seven times each week after the necessary equipment has been secured, and discussions with Ghana's Minister of Transport Kwaku ofori asiamah have been made about strengthening connectivity between the two countries.
Lamora also said the SAA is financially stable. “We have reconstructed South African aviation into something fairly financially sustainable,” he said, noting the airline's mission to regain its status as a major global brand.
In January, SAA announced that its fleet had grown to 20 aircraft after emerged from Business Rescue in 2021 with six aircraft. The airline is planning to add five aircraft to its fleet in 2025.
According to data from Ch-Aviation Fleets, the SAA fleet consists of one additional 12 leases A320-200s delivered. Two leased A330-200s and two more delivery will be made. A340-300 owned by two companies. We also wet lease one B737-300 from Cobra Aviation and two B737-800 from SunExpress.
Its international route network has grown to include Accra (Ghana), Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Sao Paulolog Al-Hos (Brazil), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Harare International and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Kinsha Sanandili, Robasian (Kongo), Lagus (Zugor), and Kinsha Sanandili (Zimbabwe). (Zambia), Mauritius, Perth International (Australia), and Windhoek International (Namibia).
