South African Airlines (SAA) has announced that it will halt its regional and international services from Johannesburg to Abidjan via Accra, Entebbe, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Luanda, Munich, Ndola, and Sao Paulo.
According to breakingtravelnews.com, the move by the carrier aim to restructure it in an attempt to fend off bankruptcy.
Departures to Munich (Germany), Ndola (Zambia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) will also cease, with the cuts effective from February 29th.
On its domestic route network, South African Airways will continue to serve Cape Town from Johannesburg on a reduced basis.
All other internal destinations – including Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth – will be cut.
Domestic routes operated by its low-cost subsidiary Mango will not be affected.
International services between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Perth and Washington (via Accra) will be retained.
Regional services from Johannesburg to Blantyre, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Victoria Falls, Livingston and Windhoek will also continue.
In a bid to reassure potential passengers, the carrier added further route changes are not expected.
Employee numbers will be reduced, but the number of job cuts has not been announced.
South African Airways was saved from collapse by a loan of R.3.5 billion (US$239 million) from the state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa last month.
According to atqnews.com the airline had initially sought R4 billion to fund the rescue while it was being restructured, but it is believed that amount has since grown to R5.5 billion.
The first R2 billion was provided through a loan from a consortium of commercial banks.
The billions are needed to run the airline during the business rescue process.
