Jet Airways and South African Airways Sign Codeshare Agreement

India’s Jet Airways and South African Airways (SAA) have signed a codeshare agreement enabling seamless connectivity between India and South Africa.

Under the codeshare arrangement Jet Airways will codeshare on South African Airways’ flights between Mumbai and Johannesburg and beyond to Cape Town and Durban.

SAA will codeshare on Jet Airways’ operations between Mumbai and Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

The agreement will effectively enhance flight choices for customers, whether originating in India or Africa, through seamless and convenient connections and frequent flyer mileage opportunities.

Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways is delighted to enter into a codeshare partnership with SAA, South Africa’s national carrier. Besides its global popularity as a tourist destination, South Africa, in its capacity as Africa’s largest economy, is also a strategic trade and investment destination. With the seamless connections offered between India and South Africa, we are confident that this mutually beneficial codeshare will prove extremely popular with both business and leisure travellers.”

Manoj Papa, SAA’s acting General Manager: Commercial, added, “The partnership strengthens the historic commercial, political and cultural cooperation between South Africa and India. “In essence, the agreement further supports the objectives of the BRICS member states”. It will help meet the high demand for air travel between India’s large business hubs and South Africa.”

A recent study conducted by the Department of Tourism indicated that the number of tourists from India to South Africa has steadily increased in recent years by over 122% between 2005 and 2010 and a further 29% increase between January and September 2011.

Customers who are members of SAA’s loyalty programme, Voyager, will be able to earn and redeem miles as well as obtain tier status when travelling on Jet Airways on SAA marketing flights. Likewise, members of Jet Airways’ Jet Privilege programme will also be able to earn and redeem JPMiles earn Tier points/Tier JPMiles when they travel on SAA flights marketed by Jet Airways.