George Tower
31st Aug 2005, 07:34
Hi Guys
Just wondering what the latest news is at SA Airlink. I seem to recall that a divorce took place between themselves and the SAA brand.
So has it happened or when will it happen, and what will be the consequences for both Link and SAA?
Rgds
GT
Deskjocky
31st Aug 2005, 11:14
Its still going ahead, just not on the 1st of October as origionally stated- the deadline has been shifted till 31 December 2005. Wonder if it will hapen at all....rumor has it that there is some backroom talk going on- but who knows!
Airlink-SAA split delayed
October 7, 2005
By Audrey d' Angelo
Cape Town - SA Airlink, which was due to stop operating as part of the SAA network at the end of this month, would continue to do so at least until the new year, Rodger Foster, its chief executive, said yesterday.
He would not comment on the reason for the decision except to say:
"We both decided it was the right thing to do." Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, the head of SAA's communications department, said it was "a private matter on which we will not comment".
At least one senior SAA executive had been dismayed by the decision to split and suggested it might make codeshare arrangements so that Airlink would continue to carry SAA passengers on some routes.
Airlink, a privately owned company flying 37-seater Embraer business jets, has been used for many years as a feeder, bringing passengers to connect with busier routes flown by SAA itself.
It has also been used to build up traffic on new routes later taken over with larger aircraft either by SAA itself or by SA Express. SA Express is owned by Transnet and is the third member of the SAA network.
After the split was announced, Foster said SAA had held back plans for Airlink to expand into the rest of Africa and his airline would do better alone.
Airlink prepared its own separate booking systems and has obtained air traffic rights for services to Harare and Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, which Foster said would be started next year.
Airlink would have five flights a week to Madagascar, competing on the route with Johannesburg-based Inter-Air, which has two flights a week. Pointing out that Madagascar had a population of 18 million, he said it was an emerging economy attracting business travel as well as tourism.
He believed it could support seven flights a week. Earlier this year Foster claimed that SA Express was being subsidised to compete unfairly with Airlink on the Durban to East London route, to force his airline off it.
Airlink has since withdrawn from this route, which is still being flown by SA Express. But Airlink has put more capacity on flights to the Kruger Park-Mpumalanga International Airport, while SA Express flies there less often.
A spokesperson for Airlink said yesterday that Airlink and SAA would issue a joint press statement next week in which other routes would also be mentioned.
Business Report