22/11/2021
SAA halts Maputo flights due to lack of demand.
Due to a lack of demand, state-owned flag carrier SAA announced on Friday that it is halting its daily return flight between O.R. Tambo International in Johannesburg and the Mozambican capital Maputo from 1 December 2021.
Passengers already holding tickets will be re-accommodated on codeshare flights operated by Mozambique Airlines (LAM). SAA will continue to monitor the route and make adjustments accordingly, it indicated.
SAA resumed commercial flights again in September this year after it went out of business rescue in April. It had gone into business rescue in December 2019 and stopped commercial flights in May 2020 when the rescue practitioners ran out of funds necessary to continue flight operations.
Due to lack of demand on traditional family holiday dates, SAA has also adjusted its schedule for return flights to Accra, Ghana, which will now not operate on 25 December 2021 and 1 January 2022. Kinshasa, DRC, flights will not operate on 24 December 2021 and 31 December 2021. All passengers will be re-accommodated on the next available SAA flights.
Furthermore, SAA planned to increase its flights to Lusaka, Zambia, from four days a week to seven days a week as from December, but has now decided to increase it only to five days a week.
"When SAA resumed operations at the end of September, we committed to constantly monitor passenger volumes and revenue on all routes. Demand on this service has not met expectations and for the time being, this change is in line with our strategy of being a transparent management and fiscally responsible," comments SAA's interim executive commercial Simon Newton-Smith.
"No airline likes to cancel flights but we are committed to success and sustainability of our airline, whilst we meet our valued customer requirements."
From 12 December, SAA will add a three-times a week flight to Lagos in Nigeria. It is also offering flights to Mauritius, Cape Town and Harare.
Newton-Smith says the uptake on the Lagos and Mauritius routes has been "encouraging". New services to other destinations are also being considered for 2022, but he did not say which destinations.
