SAA flight touches down in Perth – PICTURES

South African Airways (SAA) has restored its service to Perth in Western Australia after a four-year hiatus.

The inaugural flight, SA280, operated by an Airbus A 340-300 aircraft, took off on Sunday, 28 April at 21.26.

Passengers flying on the relaunched Perth service were treated to some festivities at check-in.

Watch below as SA280 lands in Perth.

Meanwhile, SAA confirmed that flight SA281, departing from Perth to Johannesburg, arrived at R Tambo International Airport with over 210 passengers on board.

PERTH FLIGHTS

This is good news for South Africans with family members in Perth or for SA expats wishing to visit South Africa.

South African Airways has reintroduced year-round direct flights between Johannesburg’s OR Tambo Airport and Perth.

This service is convenient for South Africans and indeed all travellers flying between the cities.  

Moreover, the restarted route comes after a lengthy absence of direct flights between the two cities after SAA ceased all scheduled flights in March 2020 at the onset of national lockdown.

After exiting business rescue, the airline restarted scheduled flights on a handful of domestic and regional African routes.

SAA was the only carrier operating scheduled services to Perth before it terminated all flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Australia’s flag carrier, Qantas, restarted flights between Sydney and Johannesburg.

REBUILDING SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

The Perth route is the second relaunched intercontinental route for South African Airways.

Last year the airline resumed flights to Sao Paulo in Brazil from both Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Chairperson of the airline’s board of directors, Derek Hanekom, said that these flights are already proving profitable.

Furthermore, Hanekom said that flights to Perth were also ‘looking good’ in a televised interview.  

ACSA COLLABORATION

The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) is also proud to see the restart of the Perth route.

Acsa’s CEO Mpumi Mpofu expressed his pleasure with the resumed route between Johannesburg and Perth, which marks a significant milestone in Acsa’s recovery journey.