South African Airways (SAA) will inaugurate flights between Johannesburg and Beijing at the end of October, over a month later than previously planned due to delays securing the necessary slots at Capital International Airport in the Chinese city. The airline had previously revealed a tentative September 1 launch date for the flight but as anticipated has run into problems getting the required slots in Beijing.
“We were initially offered slots that would have meant departing Johannesburg in the mid-afternoon and that simply wasn’t an option,” Keith Green, Manager: Network Planning – Africa & South Africa, South African Airways, told The HUB during the recent Routes Africa air service forum in Bamako, Mali. “We need to depart late at night to avoid any payload issues and are confident that we can get the slot issue resolved for an October launch.”
SAA will offer a three times weekly service, with the plan to increase capacity to a daily service in the future as demand grows. It originally planned to use a three-class 379-seat Airbus A340-600 on the route but may instead utilise an A330 instead. There is growing trade between Africa and China with much stronger investment in the continent by Chinese businesses (see ‘ASM Workshops Highlight Route Opportunities’ for more information).
SAA has lost out to the Gulf carriers who have been the main beneficiaries of the lack of non-stop services between China and Africa, with Emirates having a 27.6 per cent share of the estimated 1.1 million passengers, Qatar Airways 11.2 per cent and EgyptAir a 10.1 per cent share. Ethiopian Airlines is the largest African carrier in the market with a 17.9 per cent share of the traffic due to its recent expansion in China.
There is clear demand for a service between South Africa to China with an estimated 132,000 O&D passengers travelling between the two countries in the past year, up 11.7 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Around 33,000 O&D passengers travelled directly between Johannesburg and Beijing with the main traffic flows being with Emirates Airline via Dubai and Cathay Pacific Airways via Hong Kong. But the success of this route will not be just down to point-to-point traffic but the onward links Star Alliance partner Air China can offer across the country and wider Asian market and SAA’s own extensive local, regional and African network.
Alongside the Beijing route, SAA is planning to introduce a further eight African destinations in 2011/2012 fiscal year. “We are currently working on these routes at the moment,” explained Keith Green. “There are a couple of places we would like to fly but have been unable to move forward as there is no bilateral in place.”
The airline has yet to confirm its network plans but these destinations are understood to include Abuja, Nigeria; Bamako, Mali; Bujumbura, Burundi; Cotonou, Benin; Kigali, Rwanda and Point Noire, Republic of Congo. SAA currently serves 19 destinations in Africa but will focus on the region for its growth. It plans to increase its passenger numbers by 37 per cent over the coming three years and by 2015 plans to almost double its fleet to 94 aircraft.
Read more stories from the Routes Africa event...
South African Airways to Launch Johannesburg Link in October
Qatar Airways Set to Expand into Ghana
Air Mali in Market for Turboprops for Domestic Growth
Accra Kotoka International Triumphs in Airport Marketing Awards
ASM Workshops Highlight Route Opportunities
Aviation in Bamako – Africa’s Fastest Growing City
Aviation in Mali – A Market Set For Growth
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