News
South African Airways to serve Guangzhou
May 10th 2019
New Guangzhou flights will replace some existing Hong Kong services. Read More »
South African Airways (SAA) is returning to mainland China with a planned service from Johannesburg to Guangzhou commencing September 2019. The three weekly flights will be in lieu of an existing service to Hong Kong, which will decrease to four weekly flights. SAA will use the A340-300.
SAA served Beijing from 2012-2015. Politics were said to outweigh economics. The flight was weighed down by the long flying time, medicore local traffic and geographical disadvantages for connections to the rest of China since Beijing is in the north.
“Adding a direct service to mainland China, combined with our current popular flights to Hong Kong, provides SAA with immense growth opportunities to and from mainland China. It also gives our traders access to the centre of Chinese manufacturing,” CEO Vuyani Jarana said.
Kenya Airways ended Hong Kong service but maintains Guangzhou while Ethiopian Airlines serves both Guangzhou and Hong Kong and has a wider mainland China network.
Guangzhou is a popular destination for Africa’s individual traders of goods.
