South African Airways Returns To Brazil With Two Intercontinental Routes
South African Airways (SAA) has relaunched service to Sao Paulo—marking the only intercontinental destination to which the airline operates.
Outside of South Africa, the airline serves Accra, Ghana; Blantyre, Malawi; Harare, Zimbabwe; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Lagos, Nigeria; Lilongwe, Malawi; Lusaka, Zambia; Mauritius; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; and Windhoek, Namibia.
John Lamola, SAA interim CEO, says the airline has operated more than 9,000 flights since relaunching services in 2021. “The choice of Brazil as our first intercontinental route was informed not only by rigorous economic and market analysis, but also by considerations of the strategic linkages of South Africa,” he says.
Prior to the pandemic, SAA operated seven long-haul routes from Johannesburg. Aside from GRU, the carrier flew from JNB to: Frankfurt; Hong Kong; London Heathrow; Munich; New York John F. Kennedy; and Perth, Australia.