SAA cancels daily return flights from Mozambique, adjusts schedules

South African Airways (SAA) has announced that it will be removing daily return flights from Maputo, Mozambique, from its schedule at the beginning of December following careful appraisal of ongoing passenger volumes.

The airline made the announcement in a statement on Friday.

SAA Interim Executive for Commercial, Simon Newton-Smith said that passengers who hold tickets to travel will be accommodated on Mozambique Airlines, or they can opt to receive a credit voucher which will be offered in the original form of payment.

He explained that the decision was taken as a result of a lack of uptake in the route.

“When SAA resumed operations at the end of September, we committed to constantly monitor passenger volumes and revenue on all routes. Demand on this service has not met expectations and for the time being, this change is in line with our strategy of being a transparent management and fiscally responsible,” Newton-Smith said.

Those who no longer wish to travel will be able to cancel their booking and are expected to receive a full refund.

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“No airline likes to cancel flights but we are committed to success and sustainability of our airline, whilst we meet our valued customer requirements. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience and full assistance will be provided to all customers holding an SAA ticket on flights that are withdrawn from the schedule. Customers should refer to issuing offices for assistance,” he said.

The airline said that those who used travel agents to book flights should contact them directly and tickets that were bought online or through the SAA call centre can be reconciled through contacting the SAA Trade Support via e-mail at Tradesupport1@flysaa.com. 

SAA will also not be operating its return flights to Accra in Ghana on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

It said that flights to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo will not be operational on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Another change includes flights to Lusaka, Zambia which will operate for five days a week from 1 December, instead of seven days a week.