South African Airways will launch two weekly flights between Johannesburg and Mauritius from November 21, 2021. Flights will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays, departing Johannesburg at 09:45 and arriving in Mauritius at 16:35, local time.
On Tuesday (October 12, 2021), South African Airways (SAA) announced the launch of service between Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) and Mauritius from November 21, 2021. The route will initially be operated twice-weekly on Wednesdays and Sundays, departing Johannesburg at 09:45 and arriving in Mauritius at 16:35 (all times local). As SAA approaches their first month of operations since being relaunched, the carrier is offering local flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town and regionally to Accra, Kinshasa, Harare and Lusaka. SAA plans on restarting daily service to Maputo in December 2021.
In Tuesday’s announcement, South African Airways’ Interim CEO, Thomas Kgokolo, said,
“Part of our growth strategy is to identify routes where there is demand and which can be profitable to the carrier. The resumption of services to Mauritius meets both those criteria. Furthermore, the country has strong ties with South Africa and is both a popular tourism and business destination. We are confident that the ticket up-take will be strong, particularly as the summer season approaches.”
Kgokolo says the route strategy is constantly being monitored and evaluated in line with the carrier’s post-business rescue strategy of sustainability and profitability.
“This is a sensible practice that is adopted by airlines the world over given the tough operating climate the industry finds itself in. Depending on the take up to current destinations and where there is future demand, we will add and subtract routes.”
In the past, SAA’s service between Johannesburg and Mauritius has been popular and profitable. The flight time on the route is approximately four hours.
South African Airways started their lengthy restructuring process on November 11, 2019, when they informed all 5,146 employees that the process might lead to job losses, as prescribed by law. The airline continued repatriation and cargo flights until May 2020 before temporarily suspending operations. SAA received a renewed operating license on August 4, 2021 and relaunched domestic and continental service on September 23, 2021.
Source: South African Airways