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South African Airways (SAA) has announced it has suspended all international and regional flights with immediate effect until 31 May 2020, in response to the government travel ban aimed at stopping the transmission of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

The COVID-19 pandemic and attendant travel restrictions, resulted in substantial decline in demand for air travel. The situation caused many airlines across the world to ground aircraft, release their employees, and to cancel flights. In the case of SAA, this decision means that the airline will now only operate services from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Tim Clyde-Smith, Regional General Manager – Asia Pacific, said “In response to measures taken by the South African government to deal with this pandemic and in the best interests of our crew, passengers and the public, SAA have decided to suspend all international flights until 31 May 2020.

“SAA deeply regrets the inconvenience this may cause for our industry partners and valued customers.  Those with unused SAA tickets or partially unused SAA tickets are encouraged to make alternative arrangements to continue their travel at a later date on SAA. Customers who were trying to return to home are encouraged to contact their Embassy and/or travel insurance provider. “continued Clyde-Smith.
SAA operates in three markets that form part of countries listed in the travel ban as high-risk areas. These are the United States (Washington DC and New York, JFK), the United Kingdom (London, Heathrow) and Germany (Frankfurt and Munich). In addition, SAA operates flights to Australia (Perth) and Brazil (São Paulo) which have not been declared high-risk.  All of which are now cancelled.

Flights to the following regional destinations have been suspended until 31 May 2020: Accra (Ghana), Lusaka (Zambia), Harare (Zimbabwe), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Windhoek (Namibia), Lagos (Nigeria), Entebbe (Uganda), Mauritius.

Customers are encouraged to visit SAA’s website, www.flysaa.com, for further updates.