US embassy cable - 05PRETORIA1278

UNCLAS PRETORIA 001278 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/EPS AND AF/S/TCRAIG AND KGAITHER 
DEPT FOR EB/TRA/AN/CDEMARS, LFAUX-GABLE, ESMITH 
TRANSPORTATION FOR SMCERMOTT, KBHATIA, GRETCH 
STATE PASS TO TSA/JHALINSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, PTER, ASEC, PREL, SF 
SUBJECT:  SAA ADDS WASHINGTON ROUTES 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY.  South African Airways (SAA) will begin 
offering four weekly flights between Johannesburg and 
Washington D.C. as of July 1.  A codeshare agreement 
with United is in the works while the future of the 
existing SAA-Delta codeshare has yet to be determined. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) South African Airways (SAA) announced March 14 
that it was adding direct, one-stop service between 
Johannesburg and Washington D.C. (Dulles).  SAA Manager 
for International Affairs Darren Hays told Econoff that 
the service would begin July 1, 2005.  He said four 
flights a week will be offered initially with the 
intention of eventually expanding the route to a daily 
service. 
3. (U) SA207 to Washington, via Accra, will depart from 
Johannesburg at 18:40 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 
and Sundays and will arrive in Washington at 6:45 the 
next day.   SA208 will leave Washington on Mondays, 
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 08:45 via Accra and 
will arrive in Johannesburg the next morning at 07:40. 
SAA will use eight Boeing 747-400s to service this 
route. 
4.  (U) Hays said that as of this moment there has been 
no decision on which U.S. airline will codeshare with 
SAA on this flight.  He conceded, however, that SAA is 
working with United Airlines to finalize a codeshare 
agreement in line with SAA's recent initiation into the 
Star Alliance.  Delta currently codeshares on all SAA 
flights to the United States. 
5.  (U) Although SAA officials have previously indicated 
to Econoff that SAA would like to keep its Atlanta 
service, Hays said that no decision has been made yet on 
the future of SAA flights into Atlanta.  In July 2004, 
Star Alliance VP for Corporate Affairs Chris Klick was 
quoted as saying that although the Alliance would prefer 
collaboration among member airlines, it would not demand 
that new alliance members relinquish deals with other 
airlines.  This may allow SAA to continue to leverage 
its existing codeshare arrangement with Delta on its 
Atlanta flights.  Delta Manager for Southern Africa 
Margaret Copeland told Econoff that Delta has yet to 
receive any indication from SAA that it will terminate 
the codeshare agreement with Delta. 
FRAZER