Emirates and South African Airways expand codeshare partnership

Emirates and SAA have expanded their codeshare to include nine new routes across southern Africa
The reciprocal agreement allows Emirates to place its code on SAA’s domestic and regional flights
New domestic routes include Johannesburg-Cape Town, Johannesburg-Durban and Johannesburg-Port Elizabeth
Six regional routes connect Johannesburg to Kinshasa, Gaborone, Windhoek, Lusaka, Harare and Victoria Falls
Emirates operates 56 weekly flights to South Africa with three widebody aircraft types

Emirates and South African Airways have announced an expansion of their codeshare partnership, enabling access to nine cities and establishing the start of a reciprocal codeshare agreement between both carriers. The expanded partnership opens more destinations across central and southern Africa, simplifying connectivity for customers. Since launching their codeshare agreement, Emirates and SAA have operated on a unilateral basis, with SAA placing its code on Emirates-operated flights between Dubai and Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, as well as interline access to 68 Emirates destinations worldwide via Dubai. With regulatory approvals secured, the new agreement will see Emirates place its code on SAA-operated flights, extending its network deeper into South Africa and neighbouring countries.

The expansion covers nine new routes including three domestic South African links connecting Johannesburg with Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, in addition to six regional routes linking Johannesburg with Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Gaborone (Botswana), Windhoek (Namibia), Lusaka (Zambia), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). Emirates and South African Airways have been partners for almost 30 years, marking one of the longest partnerships in Emirates’ portfolio. Since 1997,ms of passengers have benefitted from the partnership, with frictionless, single-ticket travel. This extension to the codeshare underscores the ongoing commitment to providing greater access, convenience and choices to travellers from South Africa and neighbouring countries.

The move builds on Emirates’ longstanding commitment to providing reliable, consistent connectivity for passengers travelling to, from and within South Africa and the broader region. It also responds to strong demand for travel to South Africa from key international markets, particularly across Europe, while providing customers with greater access to destinations throughout southern and central Africa. Customers travelling on the new codeshare routes will benefit from convenient single-ticket bookings, coordinated schedules and through-checked baggage to their final destination. Tickets can now be booked on www.Emirates.com, via travel agents or at Emirates’ retail stores. Emirates currently operates 56 weekly flights across the three South African gateways, with South Africa the only market on its Africa network to receive all three widebody aircraft types: the Boeing 777, the Airbus A380 and the A350.

Emirates shared “by placing our code on SAA’s domestic and regional network, we are opening up seamless access to destinations across South Africa and neighbouring countries”

SAA shared “through this reciprocal codeshare agreement, customers will benefit from a more seamless travel experience and greater choice across our combined networks”