South African Airways, established in’34, is South Africa’s largest domestic and international airline. SAA was one of the first national airlines in the world.Modern day SAA has hubs in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It is owned by Transnet, a public transport company. Two percent of the stocks are held by SAA’s 9,000 employees.
It serves 31 cities in 25 countries, carrying more than 7 million passengers per year. Recently a member of the exclusive Star Alliance, the connection vastly extended the number of destinations SAA flies to. Skytrax, the British experts on aviation ratings, declares SAA one of the best international airlines in terms of products offered and service standards. Employees receive intensive advanced training programs to help SAA maintain its reputation for excellent customer service.
SAA is recognized as a leader in the airline industry, consistently ranking one of the best in performance, revenue, safety and many other categories. SAA is also known as Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens in Afrikaans.
In’34 the first cities served by SAA were Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Later, SAA added flights to Kenya, British East Africa and Uganda signaling an entrance to the international market. In WWII the airline was more or less shut down but by’45 SAA had achieved it’s long term goal of opening a European route by introducing a flight to Bournemouth.
The SAA brought the 707 to it’s airline in the’50′s. It was the next one in line, after the UK, to operate a pure jetliner flight. These jets would finally start to fly non-stop to the UK and it’s European neighbors within two years. Then New York was added as a stop in’69. The fleet now claims a fleet of more than 45 aircraft.
The Voyager program, SAA’s loyalty membership, has some 2 million members. Members are able to receive airmiles on SAA flights as well as other airlines in the Star Alliance. Millions are invested every year by SAA on in-flight entertainment which is a big part of their commitment to customer service. Customers will have a choice of more than a dozen movie channels, video games, music or travel information.
Business and first-class passengers are pampered even more. Business class offers the best business flat bed seats in the industry, according to Skytrax. They can also enjoy the Boabab Lounge at Johannesburg, which offers workstations complete with computers, faxes and printers. SAAs Cyclad Premium Lounge in Johannesburg was voted the third best in the world in a Skytrax survey in 2002.
In the first-class cabins, SAA offers these features:’0-degree, lie flat bed, possibly the widest in the industry at 29 inches wide. Each seat has its own electronically controlled ottoman, and large, private television screens with audio-video on-demand.
Business class travelers find generously wide, fully adjustable seats with an adjustable headrest and pneumatic lumbar support. Large private television screens with audio-video-on -demand are standard here as well.
In economy class, passengers may choose from two main courses accompanied by fine South African Wines while they also enjoy private televisions with audio-video-on-demand.
Safety and maintenance are very important to South African Airways. They have the largest maintenance facility in Africa, located at Johannesburg. Not only do they do their own maintenance, they also do maintenance on British Airways and Air France planes.