Johannesburg - SA Airways (SAA) is monitoring the demand for flights following the death of former president Nelson Mandela, it said on Saturday.
“We will monitor the situation on a continuous basis and will do everything possible to accommodate anyone wishing to travel to the Eastern Cape using air transport,” said spokesman Tladi Tladi.
“Our announcement about a special chartered service is intended specifically to accommodate invited mourners who will be attending the funeral service.”
SAA announced on Friday that it would provide an air transport service to ferry mourners to Mandela's funeral in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, next Sunday.
The airline said at the time that these special flights would not replace or disrupt its existing daily operations in the Eastern Cape.
“This is a service over and above our normal scheduled operations on a daily basis,” said Tladi.
“The special service is on a chartered basis. We will review this (Saturday) morning whether there are increased seat demands on our normal operations.”
At this stage, nothing suggested that SAA needed to increase flight capacity or frequency. However, it was an option the company was willing to consider. - Sapa