DUBAI, UAE, 19 December 2018: Emirates and South African Airways (SAA) are expanding cooperation with enhancements to its codeshare agreement, opening up new destinations for both Emirates and SAA customers.
Pending government approval, SAA and Emirates have signed an enhanced commercial partnership, which will see the relationship between the two carriers strengthen their already successful codeshare agreement signed in 1997, across a wide spectrum of commercial and customer touch points.
In 2017/18, the codeshare agreement between Emirates and SAA saw approximately 90,000 passengers benefit from seamless travel and greater connectivity, in this year alone.
“This agreement marks a significant forward step in the execution of our strategy and in transforming our business. It will enable us to explore and leverage synergies between ourselves in a much more enhanced relationship of mutual benefit. Our route network and that of Emirates complement one another. The expansion of our partnership will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan,” said SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana.
“We remain deeply committed to our decades-long relationship with SAA, and the forthcoming expansion of our codeshare agreement is a significant milestone in our history in South Africa,” said, Emirates Airline president Sir Tim Clark.
Emirates launched operations to South Africa in 1995 with flights between Dubai and Johannesburg. The relationship between SAA and Emirates spans over 20 years dating back to June 1997 with the signing of Emirates’ first ever codeshare agreement, whereby the SAA code started to appear on flights operated by Emirates to Dubai.
SAA is able to offer its customers seats on the eight daily flights operated by Emirates between South Africa and Dubai (four daily flights from Johannesburg including its iconic A380 aircraft, three daily flights from Cape Town and one daily flight from Durban).
The enhanced agreement means the codeshare will be expanded across both carriers’ networks.
Included in the new agreement are plans to enhance the frequent flyer programmes, Emirates’ Skywards and Voyager by SAA. Emirates became a Voyager airline partner in 2000, which means Voyager members are able to earn and redeem Miles on flights operated by Emirates; and similarly, Skywards members are able to earn and redeem Miles on SAA-operated flights.
