South African Airways Business Class Flights
South African Airways is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. They are headquartered in Airways Park at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park.
Under the South African Airways ownership, the airline has interests in SA Express, SA Airlink and its low-cost carrier Mango, which allows them to fly to 56 destinations in South Africa and around the world from its hub in Johannesburg.
They own a total of 47 airplanes. They were founded in 1934 after the acquisition of Union Airways by the South African government.
Managing Political Unrest and Economics
The 1980’s were a difficult time for expansion for SA Airways as they were banned from landing in Africa locations by other African countries for their position on apartheid. At the time they were operating under their Afrikaans name Suid-Afrikaansa Lugdiens.
In 1997, SA Airways replaced their emblem and old national color with a new livery. Their name was changed to South African Airways. They also became part of the Star Alliance program.
The state owned airline hired a new CEO to determine why the airline was struggling. Market research revealed it was caused by “failure to fly on time, unfriendly and minimally trained staff, poor food and fares 25% higher than competitors.” Mr. Andrews turned the airline around and market value increased fivefold.
In May 2007, South African Air launched an 18-month comprehensive restructuring program aimed at turning around the unprofitable airline. They sold off a total of seven subsidiaries and focused on core passenger business. However, scandals and poor operations continued to follow the airlines.
South African Air began flights to Beijing, China in 2012. Buenos Aires flights ended in 2013. In 2015, they determined that their own long-haul flights that were profitable were Hong Kong, Munich, Frankfurt, and Perth.
South African Airways is headquartered in Airways Park on the ground of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park. The building was developed by Stauch Vorster Architects.
South African Airways “Flying Springbok” logo was the symbol of the carrier when it was created in 1934 and stayed until 1997. While the logo was discontinued in 1997 when it received a new name and livery the word “Springbok” has remained and is the airline’s radio callsign.