South African Airways has announced that it is immediately suspending all international operations until 31 May 2020 in light of a government travel ban aimed at stopping transmission of the novel coronavirus.
According to a statement, the airline says the ban has resulted in a “substantial decline” in demand for air travel.
SAA says it will only be servicing domestic and regional routes.
SAA operates in three markets that form part of countries listed in the travel ban as high-risk areas, namely the United States (Washington DC and New York, JFK), the United Kingdom (London, Heathrow) and Germany (Frankfurt and Munich).
It also operates flights to Australia (Perth) and Brazil (São Paulo) which have not been declared high-risk, all of which are now cancelled.
“In support of efforts by government to deal with this pandemic, and in the best interests of our crew, passengers and the public, we have decided to suspend all international and regional flights until 31 May 2020. It is all our responsibility, not just government, to curb further transmission of the virus.
“In addition, the increasing risks to our crew of contracting the virus including the possibility of being trapped in foreign destinations as a consequence of increasing travel bans cannot be ignored,” said SAA Acting CEO, Zuks Ramasia.
“We also recognise the fluidity in the conditions we operate in and the need to responds to these changes with speed, to this end we commit to keep all our stakeholders abreast of any changes on an ongoing basis.”
Most highly affected countries are shutting down. This is to save lives and we welcome this move..now I wait for the upnd maniacs to comment blaming lungu for this
Never wrestle with a pig in the mud because it will always emerge victorious. I rest my case.
What about Zambia Airways, what is their decision?
Corona will wipe out SAA …..and some fooooools want to set up an Airline
Zambian government can not do that especially to China they think they will not allow them to borrow more money