The government is expected to officially relaunch South African Airways (SAA) in Cape Town on Thursday, 26 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event \u2013 which will mark two years since SAA returned to the skies \u2013 will also be used to announce the restart of the state-owned airline\u2019s direct flights to S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said the relaunch was a milestone for the airline, which had run into turbulence after it was grounded for 16 months and underwent business rescue and averted liquidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe upcoming event marks a very significant step in the resurgence of South African Airways. We look forward to the official relaunch of SAA, along with the introduction of its first intercontinental flight to S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil,\u201d Gordhan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement earlier this year, SAA revealed that it will fly four times a week to S\u00e3o Paulo, with two flights each departing from Cape Town and Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, SAA Interim CEO, Professor John Lamola, said the airline took the decision to introduce the long-haul flight following a thorough sustainability analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are overjoyed to announce S\u00e3o Paulo as our first international destination since the airline successfully emerged from an intensive Business Rescue process and Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It also marks our return of our long-haul service out of Cape Town. The teams at SAA are working hard behind the scenes to gear our operations for this much-anticipated route launch to South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur decision to begin the relaunch of our long-haul service with S\u00e3o Paulo was taken based on a rigorous analysis of the viability of the route. Sustainability has been at the heart of SAA\u2019s approach since our restart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first flight to the South American country is expected to depart from Cape Town next Tuesday (31 October), with the Johannesburg flight to follow suit on Monday, 6 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n