SAA axes DUR-CPT flights

[Kelerei]

Johannesburg – South African Airways will stop all its flights between Durban and Cape Town.

Its low-cost airline Mango will serve the route in future.

Traffic between Durban and Cape Town is largely limited to tourists and it is price sensitive, SAA spokesperson Fani Zulu told Sake24.com. It makes more sense to leave the route to Mango, which can compete with other low-cost airlines.

According to an agreement with Mango, SAA passengers will earn Voyager miles and will also receive other benefits – like in-flight meals – on these flights.

SAA CEO Siza Mzimela said the airline wants to employ Mango more efficiently, so that SAA planes are available for routes in Africa.

The African routes are the airline’s most profitable and SAA wants to expand its capabilities on the continent. But SAA does not plan to withdraw from the local market, Mzimela added.

Source

Two sides to this coin. On one side, if the route isn't profitable for them, it obviously doesn't make sense for them to continue and it would make far more business sense to deploy those A319s on more profitable routes. On the other hand, they've probably pissed off all the business travellers that do fly that route, as well as people already booked on that route (myself included here). Comair must be ecstatic about this...