South African Airways is returning to Perth from April 28 offering an initial three flights a week.
South African Airways (SAA) is returning to Perth from April 28 offering an initial three flights a week.
The official announcement is due shortly and the flights are currently being loaded into the reservation system.
SAA is expected to use A330s on the route from Johannesburg to Perth in a configuration of 46 business class seats and 203 economy seats.
In December, Business News reported comments by SAA sales, marketing, e-commerce and distribution general manager Carla da Silva that the airline had secured leases on aircraft to support its 2024 corporate plan.
Ms da Silva said three aircraft would arrive this month, with the airline to have 21 in its fleet by the end of 2024, up from six.
It had been hoped the Perth schedule would start in March, but it has slipped to April 28.
The resurgence of SAA follows the airline’s bankruptcy and grounding during COVID. It resumed a pared-back service in September 2021 and has slowly been reintroducing flights and operations.
Ms da Silva told a recent travel conference that SAA had returned to profitability and could operate its schedule and routes without the need for any bailout or additional funding.
“We are profitable as we sit. Some routes are not profitable, but there are routes making up for that,” she said.
