Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa South African Airlines belly up

Got a trip scheduled in June on Delta to Johannesburg then SAA to Port Elizabeth. Just got word that SSA has canceled all flights. Appears routes will be taken over by Mango Airlines. BUT Mango is not approved to carry firearms. Will have to wait and see if they want to jump through the necessary hoops for that approval.

Airlink is taking over the routes at SAA is leaving. Airlink does carry firearms.

Hope this is correct. My outfitter in SA is the source of my info.

SAA has been crapping in their nest for the last 15 or so years. Where once it was a pleasure to travel SAA, even in coach class, they now act as though customers are cattle on the truck.

Thanks for that link! We paid the modest fee to Travel with Guns to book our flights because they presumably will help us sort this out. I am sure things will become clearer, but it another interesting aspect of dealing in Africa. 😉

Here is a copy of the SAA press release. If you go to the SA Air Link and SA Express web sites and look at the terms and conditions of their baggage handling and specifically firearms and ammo carriage, they both will carry firearms and ammo with some extra fees fo SOME domestic airports.

TRAVEL ALERT IF USING SOUTH AFRICA AIRWAYS
Feb 6, 2019 - SAA News Release
Changes to SAA’s Network

Following a careful analysis of SAA’s liquidity challenges and after consultations with all relevant stakeholders, the BRPs have identified which routes will be retained to drive the restructured national carrier towards profitability.

SAA will continue to operate all international services between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Perth and Washington via Accra.

Regional services to be retained include from Johannesburg to Blantyre, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Victoria Falls, Livingston and Windhoek.

On 29th February 2020, SAA will close the following regional and international services from Johannesburg to Abidjan via Accra, Entebbe, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Luanda, Munich, Ndola, and Sao Paulo.

On the domestic route network, SAA will continue to serve Cape Town on a reduced basis.

All other domestic destinations, including Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth, will cease to be operated by SAA on 29th February 2020. Domestic routes operated by Mango will not be affected by the changes.

All customers booked on any cancelled international and regional routes will receive a full refund. Customers booked on cancelled domestic flights will be re-accommodated on services operated by Mango.

SAA does not intend to make any further significant network changes. Passengers and travel agents can therefore feel confident about booking future travel with South African Airways.

The flight schedule for February remains unchanged. Please consult the website for further information.

Wow!

No Bulawayo noted?

SAA sucks! I flew JFK to Joberg (15 hours) and the AC didn't work!

It was one of the world's premier airlines back in the day. You know, before the groids took it over...

Holy cow!

If anyone needed proof that RSA has hit the tipping point toward complete africanization, this is just another indicator that goes along with rolling black outs and internal security/crime issues and land grabbing.

30 years ago, SAA was my favorite airline. Their staff was professional and impeccable in customer service, the pilots were all ex-military and great to talk to. I hate to see the slow death of a once great country.

TWG booked me on SA Airlink for July 2020 JNB to Bulawayo. I sent them an e-mail this afternoon asking about projected status of that route. I’ll post the answer as soon as I receive it.

Last April, my driver I hired through Air 2000 to guide me around Johannesburg on a long layover predicted SAA was on the edge of collapse. He claimed it was political interference and corruption, like Biden and the Ukraine.

Spoke with TWG today. They’ve not been notified about Bulawayo so far. However they anticipate further route realignments in the future. I’ll post as more info becomes available.

Last time I flew SAA was back in 64 and it was a pleasure to be on their planes at that time. Cheers NC

was one of the worlds great nations back in the day, you know, before the communist/ groids took it over

Get a hold of Lorrie at "Travel Express" ....They specialize in Africa hunting trips..We have booked twice with her and she also hunts there herself....Always up on latest info.....She has an ad on "Africa Hunting "...or type in...good luck...

Get a hold of Lorrie at "Travel Express" ....They specialize in Africa hunting trips..We have booked twice with her and she also hunts there herself....Always up on latest info.....She has an ad on "Africa Hunting "...or type in...good luck...

Thanks for this suggestion! We booked our flights with Travel With Guns, and they also specialize in these kind of trips. They are monitoring the situation. I am optimistic something will work out. But it is another reminder of the complications you can run into with international hunting.