South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has made the decision to temporarily suspend flights between its base in Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Hong Kong International from November 23 up to and including December 14.
“The decision to suspend services to Hong Kong is regrettable but necessitated by the current downturn in business due to the developing challenges in the region. By suspending these flights, we can concentrate on resuming more regional services at the earliest opportunity and make better use of all our resources,” said Philip Saunders, South African Airways' (SAA) Chief Commercial Officer.
The airline operated a 4x weekly A340-300 service to the Asian city. The temporarily cull means that the airline has no direct flights to the whole of Asia for the next few weeks. Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) also flies the same sector, with a daily B777-300(ER) operation.
SAA will be implementing a re-accommodation policy for customers booked on its Hong Kong services.
In better news for the troubled African carrier, it reached an agreement with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the South African Airways Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) unions on November 21 to end their seven-day strike.
"This agreement with the unions will help promote that atmosphere of positivity, inclusivity and sustainable growth,” said Zuks Ramasia, SAA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer. Significant concessions have been made to the unions' demands including a 5.9% wage increase.
