South African Airways, which is winding its way through a
bankruptcy and restructuring, will make substantial route cuts.
However, the carrier’s two U.S routes -- Johannesburg-New
York and Johannesburg-Washington Dulles via Accra, Ghana -- were spared.
SAA will continue transoceanic service from Johannesburg to
Frankfurt, London Heathrow and Perth, Australia. Flights to Hong Kong, Munich,
Sao Paolo and Guangzhou will be terminated.
The carrier also will cancel numerous routes within Africa
as well as the majority of its domestic flights. SAA will continue to fly from
Johannesburg to Cape Town at reduced levels, but will discontinue flights to
Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth on Feb. 29. Going forward, SAA will rely
on its discount subsidiary Mango to replace the canceled domestic routes.
State-owned SAA entered into bankruptcy, called “business
rescue” in South Africa, in early December.
“We hope this news
will provide our customers and travel partners with a higher level of
confidence in selecting SAA as their carrier of choice to Africa,” Todd Neuman,
the carrier’s executive vice president for North America, wrote in an email.