SAA plans 24-hour flights

Johannesburg - South African Airways (SAA) will offer flights on a 24-hour basis during the Fifa 2010 World Cup tournament to meet the expected demand.

Acting SAA CEO Chris Smyth said accommodation challenges during the tournament will push up the demand for flights to and from the host cities.

"There's simply not enough accommodation available in all the host cities, and visitors will therefore be accommodated in other areas where space is available.

"That includes places like the Lost City, George, East London and even Mauritius. The result is that the demand for flights will increase, because the visitors will have to travel to and from the matches."

Smyth said SAA currently flies about 15 hours a day.

He said a further reason for the need for flights on a 24-hour basis is the fact that the major games will be played late at night.

"Many of these games only start at 20:30, and it could easily be around midnight before they finish. Those visitors must then be flown back to the areas where they are staying."

Smyth said SAA would be supported in its arrangements by Match, world soccer control body Fifa's agent in charge of ticket sales, accommodation, information services and hospitality packages.

SAA and Match have already signed an agreement, in terms of which SAA provided Match with 89 000 tickets for use on the routes between Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The two parties are still busy with negotiations for 20 additional planes that will be made available by Match to SAA for use during the tournament.

"These planes will come with their own pilots," Smyth said. Meanwhile, the airline is expected to make an announcement towards the end of January about the appointment of a new CEO.

"The process is with the shareholder who must make the final decision about the suitable candidate," SAA spokesperson Vimla Maistry told Sake24.com.

- Sake24.com

For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.