Johannesburg - 27 October 2009
Air New Zealand and South African Airways (SAA) have signed a code share agreement, enabling the two carriers to offer a one-stop service between Auckland and Johannesburg via Perth.
From 1 November Air New Zealand will code share on South African Airways’ daily service between Perth and Johannesburg, as well as onto their connecting domestic services to Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.
South African Airways will in turn code share on Air New Zealand’s daily Auckland–Perth service and onto connecting Air New Zealand domestic flights to Wellington and Christchurch. They will also code share onto Air New Zealand’s trans-Tasman services between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch to Sydney.
“We recognise there is an opportunity to better meet customers’ needs for travel between New Zealand and South Africa,” says Ed Sims, Air New Zealand Group General Manager Long Haul Airline.
“With the connection at Perth and also at domestic points in both New Zealand and South Africa this new arrangement will be very popular.”
For South African Airways this code share offers equal opportunities.“Adding Air New Zealand as a code share partner will provide our customers with further access to key destinations in New Zealand and South Africa. We are looking forward to working closely with Air New Zealand as our partnership will improve the connections between our respective networks,” says Jason Krause, SAA Head of Business Development.
There are more than 41,000 South Africans living in New Zealand, with 23,000 short term arrivals from South Africa for the year to June 2009. Nearly 87% of those arrivals came for the purpose of visiting friends and family or a holiday. More than 12,000 New Zealand residents visited South Africa in the same period.
South African Airways operates direct daily services between Johannesburg and Perth with Airbus A340 aircraft. Air New Zealand operates a 223 seat Boeing 767-300 between Perth and Auckland.
As Star Alliance partners, there are also opportunities where the members of the carriers’ loyalty programmes, Voyager for SAA and Airpoints Dollars for Air New Zealand can earn and redeem miles on one another.
Schedule:
The schedule that affords the most optimal connections is:
- NZ175 Departs Auckland 1405 Arrives Perth 1640
- SA281 Departs Perth 2345 Arrives Johannesburg 0450
- SA280 Departs Johannesburg 2200 Arrives Perth 1325
- NZ176 Departs Perth 1750 Arrives Auckland 0515
About Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand is recognised as one of the world’s leading airlines, delivering uniquely Kiwi journeys to more than 13 million passengers who fly to, from and within New Zealand each year. Air New Zealand operates more than 4000 flights each week, connecting customers to 27 destinations within New Zealand and to Australia, the Pacific Islands, China, Japan, Canada, USA and the United Kingdom.
Air New Zealand aims to become the world’s most environmentally sustainable airline and has a wide range of green initiatives in place to reduce and offset aircraft emissions. In December it became the world’s first airline to operate a test flight on a large passenger aircraft using the second-generation bio fuel Jatropha.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com
About South African Airways
South African Airways (SAA) is the leading airline on the African continent and has a commanding presence in the region. The airline is first and foremost set to carry out its mandate of being an African airline with global reach by further expanding its African route network. SAA is particularly proud of its history and solid presence in the African skies, particularly in its 75th year of existence. SAA will focus its efforts going forward on expanding and growing its already expansive route network on the continent.
For more information about SAA visit www.flysaa.com.
Issued jointly by Air New Zealand and South African Airways