South Africa Airways Launches Direct Flight From Washington by Larry Luxner FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—For years, Ethiopian Airlines has billed itself as the only airline offering direct service between Washington and the African continent. Those claims will now have to be toned down. On July 2, South African Airways (SAA) began offering four direct flights a week from Washington Dulles International Airport to Johannesburg. This makes the nation’s capital SAA’s third U.S. gateway after New York and Atlanta, and boosts the airline’s frequency from the United States to South Africa to 18 flights a week. “We see a big potential for this route,” said Phillip J. Bekker, SAA’s executive vice president for the Americas. “We’re looking at markets like foreign embassies, the [International Monetary Fund], the World Bank, various [nongovernmental organizations] and U.S. government traffic, because at present these people have to fly via Europe to get there.” Bekker, who was interviewed at SAA’s North American headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said, “We believe Ethiopian is a good airline and has been in existence for many years, but they feed a different part of Africa. We feed sub-Saharan Africa as far north as Nairobi.” SAA’s new Flight 208 operates fro m Washington Dulles on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, departing at 8:45 a.m. and arriving at 7:40 the following morning with a refueling stop in Accra, Ghana. On the return path, Flight 207 leaves Johannesburg on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing at 6:40 p.m., stopping briefly in Accra, and arriving at 6:45 the next morning The Washington-Johannesburg flight marks the return of the Boeing 747-400 aircraft to SAA’s fleet, as well as the return of three-class service, including lie-flat seating in both business and first class. SAA uses Airbus A340 jets on its New York and Atlanta flights. To inaugurate the new service, SAA threw a big party at the end of June at the Library of Congress. The event was held in conjunction with the Embassy of South Africa, which Bekker said has been “100 percent involved” in the effort. SAA is also opening a three-person sales office in downtown Washington to help promote its new route. “We would like to have at least 40 percent business travel out of Washington. Normally it’s 30 percent,” he said. “We’re also picking up passengers between Ghana and South Africa, which is a lucrative route. We don’t have the rights yet to offer services between Ghana and the United States, which we would only get if the Ghanaian government agrees to it.” Next Page