After a two-year hiatus, South African Airways (SAA) has resumed service to Kenya. To better serve customers in Kenya, South Africa’s national airline has built a booking office at Nairobi’s Yaya Center. Financial difficulties, compounded by the airline industry’s shutdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, forced SAA to shut down.
Image: Precious Joy
SAA East Africa Regional Manager and the Middle East, Austin Nyawara, said “South African Airways is just reopening its offices in Nairobi after a two-year closure. We had closed down because of COVID, and the company was undergoing some restructuring.”
“So, this is a new office to serve our customers within Kenya and, of course, greater East Africa, but basically to just show the traveling that the South African Airways is back,”
To broaden their reach, SAA and KQ inked a codeshare arrangement for flights between Kenya and South Africa in July 2022.
Tickets purchased on either airline can be used on the other, as per the terms of the agreement. Mombasa, Kisumu, Entebbe, and Dar es Salaam will all be accessible to SAA via KQ flights.
Nyawara added, “Customers can buy tickets from here, they can do their reservations here, they can also make inquiries about travel packages to South Africa, Mauritius, and beyond”.