Strategic Importance
I generally don't get involved in these threads as they are often emotional and childish (from both sides). The last few comments though, both for and against, have been interesting reading. The fact that SAA fly to the Americas, Europe, the East, Australia and Africa means that there is unfragmented unified competition on the routes and that the passenger benefits from the low prices that result. Emirates which is entirely government backed (and any other Airline) are not here because they like South Africa, they want to make money. In the absence of competition, prices would skyrocket and we would become another African country paying a fortune to get to the outside world. The only reason that passengers in SA can continue to pay the ridiculously low prices for long haul tickets ( in the face of $125 a barrel, EU emission charges and rising user costs) is by offering the passenger another unified option. The taxpayer does benefit and therein lies the strategic importance of SAA.