Emirates inks new deal with South African Airways to deepen codeshare
Emirates Airline has announced a new deal that will expand its partnership with South Africa’s flag carrier.
The Dubai-based airline and South African Airways are expanding their strategic cooperation with enhancements to their codeshare agreement, opening up new destinations for both carriers.
The two companies have entered into an “enhanced partnership” that will strengthen their relationship, as well as the codeshare they both signed in 1997.
Emirates launched operations to South Africa in 1995 with flights between Dubai and Johannesburg. In 1997, the SAA code started showing up on flights operated by Emirates to Dubai, following the signing of the first ever codeshare agreement.
Approximately 90,000 passengers benefited from the two airlines’ codeshare pact in 2017/18 through “seamless travel and greater connectivity.
The latest deal, pending government approval, is considered a “significant forward step in the execution” of the two airlines’ strategy and in transforming their business.
“It will enable us to explore and leverage synergies between ourselves in a much more enhanced relationship of mutual benefit. Our route network and that of Emirates complement one another. The expansion of our partnership will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan,” said SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana.
“We remain deeply committed to our decades-long relationship with SAA, and the forthcoming expansion of our codeshare agreement is an exciting development and a significant milestone in our history in South Africa,” said Sir Tim Clark, presidents of Emirates Airline.
“We have seen great success with the codeshare agreement, having 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.”
Emirate: Dubai
Date: Dec 18, 2018
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