South African Airways (SAA) has announced a non-stop flight from Johannesburg to New York from May and changes to routes and capacity on major routes in Africa.

According to South African Airways’ Head of Australasia and India, Thevan Krishna, the new developments will continue to enhance SAA’s reputation as the leading global airline serving the African continent.

“From 1 May 2011, we will offer our customers the convenience of flying non-stop between Johannesburg and New York. Our direct flights to JFK will depart in the evening with an early morning arrival in New York. The reduced travel time will result in fast, efficient same day connections to several key US destinations such as Boston, Chicago, Florida, California, as well as Canada and the Caribbean, “Thevan said.

“SA203 will depart OR Tambo International Airport daily at 20h35 (SA local time) arriving into JFK at 06h40 (New York local time), while non-stop flights from New York (SA204) will depart daily at 11h15, arriving into OR Tambo International Airport at 08h40,” he said.

“SAA will now offer the fastest, most comfortable way to commute between Southern Africa and North America. We will use our Airbus 340-600 on this ultra long-haul route, one of the longest non-stop flights in the world.”

Thevan said that due to increased demand for air services in Africa, SAA will introduce wide-body Airbus 340 operations to Kenya and Namibia. 

“From 27 February 2011, we will operate a wide-body aircraft between Johannesburg and Nairobi flying daily with an increase in seats from 2,918 to 3,500 per week.  From 27 March we will also introduce wide-body services between Johannesburg and Windhoek, Namibia on 7 of our 20 weekly services, increasing the number of the airline’s seats available on this route from 5,830 to 6,746,” Thevan said.

“SAA customers travelling to and from both Nairobi and Windhoek on the new wide-bodied aircraft will now enjoy, amongst other features, a lie flat seat and more space in business class, more space in economy class, preferential flight schedules and a host of other value-added benefits,” he said.

SAA will introduce other changes including:

• An additional flight from Johannesburg to Harare, Zimbabwe to operate on Tuesdays effective from 29 March, bringing the total number of frequencies to 18 per week;
• Effective from 29 March 2011, SAA will increase the frequency of flights to Entebbe, Uganda from 6 to daily flights with the introduction of a new Tuesday service; 
• In South Africa, SAA will increase the seats available on the Johannesburg to Cape Town route by operating an additional scheduled flight using wide-body aircraft.

"SAA is acknowledged as the leading airline in Africa with the most comprehensive network and number of connections to all major cities on the continent. We have 14 direct flights every week from Australia to South Africa from Sydney and Perth. Aussies are taking an increased interest in Africa as a holiday and business destination. These new initiatives will help us to continue to maintain our reputation as the best way to visit and explore Africa," Thevan said.