Tickets
went on sale on 16 April 2013 with travel effective from 18 April
2013.
Under
the arrangement; South African Airways, the only airline with
non-stop flights between Johannesburg and Mumbai, will code share on
Jet Airways’ operations between Mumbai and Delhi, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. In turn, Jet Airways will
code share on SAA’s flights between Mumbai and Johannesburg and
beyond to Cape Town and Durban.
Customers
who are members of SAA’s loyalty programme, Voyager, will be able
to earn miles and obtain tier status when travelling on Jet Airways
using SAA-issued tickets. Likewise, members of Jet Airways’ Jet
Privilege programme will also be able to earn and redeem JPMiles and
earn Tier points/Tier JPMiles when they travel on SAA flights
marketed by Jet Airways. This provides an opportunity for customers
to spend miles exploring the various Indian and South African
destinations on offer.
“SAA
is pleased with this latest offering on the India route. This
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,” said Mr. Manoj Papa, SAA’s acting General Manager:
Commercial.
Mr.
Sudheer Raghavan, Jet Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer,
elaborated: “Jet Airways is delighted to enter into a codeshare
partnership with SAA, South Africa’s flag 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.”
A
recent study 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.
“We
have been witnessing a steady increase in the number of business and
leisure travellers coming into South Africa. Using Johannesburg as a
convenient connection hub, a significant number of these travellers
are also taking advantage of SAA’s vast route network of 26
destinations across Africa as well as access to over 1300 airports in
almost 200 countries through our Star Alliance membership,”
explained Papa.
The
codeshare agreement will effectively enhance flight choices for
customers, whether originating in India or Africa. “In essence we
are truly bringing the world to Africa and taking Africa to the
world,” Papa asserted.
