South African Airways (SAA) plans to restart domestic flights as soon as it is given official approval by the government.<\/p>\n
The airline said that it plans to retain its domestic schedule of flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town with effect from mid-June 2020. Accordingly, the group said it is focusing on ensuring operational readiness to resume flights once permissible.<\/p>\n
This position will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, it said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, SAA said it is cancelling all planned scheduled flights on regional and international services until the end of June 2020 with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
This decision has been taken as a result of the continuing global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the airline said.<\/p>\n
Many restrictive rules and regulations still apply to civil aviation across the world. On this basis, it is not yet possible to resume operations beyond South Africa\u2019s borders in a sustainable manner, it said.<\/p>\n
“Everyone at SAA is looking forward to welcoming and serving our customers once again.<\/p>\n
‘Our operational preparedness is underlined by the significant role the airline has played in global repatriations to and from South Africa and by our desire to serve the domestic market,” said Philip Saunders, SAA\u2019s chief commercial officer.<\/p>\n
The airline said all customers will be able to use their ticket\u2019s full value as a credit for travel on any SAA service up to an including 24 March 2022.<\/p>\n
The airline will also permit a free name change if any individual customer no longer wishes to travel. This represents an important part of SAA\u2019s continued commitment to support our customers in these unprecedented times.<\/p>\n