South African Airways is talking to the Ghanaian government about establishing a West African hub in Accra and setting up a new joint venture airline in the region with the Mango or SA Express brand.
SAA ceo, Siza Mzimela, told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises in Cape Town on August 28, that SAA would take a 49% equity stake in the new airline. It would increase its South Africa-Ghana capacity to feed long-haul traffic from its other destinations, including South America, Asia and Australasia, to the new airline – drawing more traffic through Johannesburg.
Referring to SAA’s failed attempt to establish an East African hub with Air Tanzania, Siza said: “We have learned from past lessons that it is very important that we have a strong and reliable local partner. Our efforts in Tanzania failed because there was no feeder traffic. In West Africa, we need to ensure that we have a strong feeder network.”
Siza said SAA also planned to export its low-cost Mango brand into the rest of Southern Africa, in particular to grow lucrative leisure routes to destinations such as Mauritius, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa and Livingstone.
To read the full story see TNW, September 5 edition
