South African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag-carrier and the largest airline of South Africa. The airline’s main hub is O.R Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, and is located near the city of Johannesburg.Cape Town International Airport serves as the focus city of South African Airways. The official motto of the airline is "Africa's Most Awarded Airline". South African Airways is also a member of Star Alliance and has a subsidiary airline – Mango Airlines, which is a domestic low-cost airline.
South African Airways was founded in 1934 after the acquisition of Union Airways by the South African government. The airline was initially overseen and controlled by South African Railways and Harbours Administration. It was forced to operate long range aircrafts during the Apartheid administration and heavy sanctions by African countries. In 1997, the airline changed its previous name of Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens (SAL to the current name of South African Airways along with its image and aircraft livery, as well as the introduction of online ticketing services. South African Airways is also the main sponsor of ATP (Association of Tennis professionals.
South African Airways has a fleet of 57 aircrafts including Airbus A340-600, Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 737-800. South African Airways serves close to 42 destinations worldwide. The airlines has several codeshare agreements with airlines like Air India, Air Mauritius, Malaysian Airlines, Saudia, JetBlue Airways, South African Express, Air Seychelles, Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Airlink, and more. Voyager is the frequent-flyer program of South African Airways and consists of five tier statuses – Blue, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Lifetime Platinum.South African Airways’ callsign is "Springbok" and remains in use despite the discontinuation of the logo after 1997.
