JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's national carrier and the world’s largest international airline, Emirates, are expanding their commercial relationship with enhancements to a codeshare agreement which will open up new destinations for both.
Emirates launched operations to South Africa in 1995 with flights between Dubai and Johannesburg and its relationship with South African Airways (SAA) dates back to June 1997 when the SAA code started to appear on flights operated by Emirates to Dubai. In 2017/18, the codeshare agreement saw approximately 90,000 passengers benefit from seamless travel and greater connectivity.
SAA is able to offer its customers seats on the eight daily flights operated by Emirates between South Africa and Dubai, comprising four daily flights from Johannesburg, three daily flights from Cape Town and one daily flight from Durban. The enhanced agreement means the codeshare will be expanded across both carriers’ networks.
Included in the new agreement are plans to enhance the frequent flyer programs, SAA’s Voyager and Emirates’ Skywards programme.
“This agreement marks a significant forward step in the execution of our strategy and in transforming our business. It will enable us to explore and leverage synergies between ourselves in a much more enhanced relationship of mutual benefit," SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana said.
"Our route network and that of Emirates complement one another. The expansion of our commercial relationship will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan."
Emirates Airline President Sir Tim Clark said the codeshare agreement had enabled greater connectivity to both SAA and Emirates customers, by offering more choice, flexibility and ease of connections to a wide range of cities via Dubai and across more points in Southern Africa.
"Increasing the scope of our agreement underpins the strong bonds we share with SAA and our belief that this enhanced partnership will enable further success and gain to the airlines and their customers," he said.
SAA is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 57 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, Airlink, and its low-cost carrier, Mango, within the country and across the continent, and nine intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub.