Gunship
28th May 2003, 19:21
What a laugh a minute ... I am ashamed to be associated in any way to these useless crowd .. where are the days where I was so proud to see a SAA aircraft ... cycling 30 miles to see the new 727 arriving ... damn things have changed .. Gunss relax boet it is only 1100 in the morning ... :{
NATIONAL carrier SA Airways (SAA) has been forced to do an about-turn on a decision to raise fares to London, after a key competitor failed to implement similar increases.
SAA announced yesterday that it was rolling back its first and business class fare hikes on the London route in a bid to match competitors.
It took the decision after it became clear that British Airways, its main rival on the London route, was not going to implement similar increases.
The fare reduction comes shortly after SAA announced bargain basement fares on domestic routes in a bid to take on BA-Comair's low-cost carrier, Kulula.com.
Combined, the two moves have the potential to hit SAA's bottom line as international fares tend to subsidise domestic fares.
It comes as the strong rand is adversely affecting the national carrier, which relies on dollar-based earnings to bolster profit.
The one bright spot for SAA is the lower oil price, which rose sharply ahead of and during the recent USled war on Iraq.
Rich Mkhondo, executive manager of corporate communications at SAA, said yesterday the decrease applied only to London. Fare increases to Europe would remain.
He said SAA was cutting its fares to match competitors that had not implemented similar increases although they were entitled to according to International Airline Transport Association (Iata) guidelines.
"SAA's decrease will ensure that the airline will remain competitive."
Mkhondo said airlines such as SAA did not increase fares haphazardly. Like many airlines, SAA followed Iata guidelines.
NATIONAL carrier SA Airways (SAA) has been forced to do an about-turn on a decision to raise fares to London, after a key competitor failed to implement similar increases.
SAA announced yesterday that it was rolling back its first and business class fare hikes on the London route in a bid to match competitors.
It took the decision after it became clear that British Airways, its main rival on the London route, was not going to implement similar increases.
The fare reduction comes shortly after SAA announced bargain basement fares on domestic routes in a bid to take on BA-Comair's low-cost carrier, Kulula.com.
Combined, the two moves have the potential to hit SAA's bottom line as international fares tend to subsidise domestic fares.
It comes as the strong rand is adversely affecting the national carrier, which relies on dollar-based earnings to bolster profit.
The one bright spot for SAA is the lower oil price, which rose sharply ahead of and during the recent USled war on Iraq.
Rich Mkhondo, executive manager of corporate communications at SAA, said yesterday the decrease applied only to London. Fare increases to Europe would remain.
He said SAA was cutting its fares to match competitors that had not implemented similar increases although they were entitled to according to International Airline Transport Association (Iata) guidelines.
"SAA's decrease will ensure that the airline will remain competitive."
Mkhondo said airlines such as SAA did not increase fares haphazardly. Like many airlines, SAA followed Iata guidelines.