If the four-flights-a-week route is successful, the airline will add another three flights and make it a daily service. SAA is also in the process of becoming part of the Star Alliance, meaning that passengers on United Airlines, Varig Brazilian Airlines and other carriers in the worldwide alliance will accrue frequent-flier mileage when they fly SAA. Bekker, originally from the South African mining town of Kimberley, has been with SAA for the past 35 years. He’s held his current job since 1997. For much of his career, South Africa was blacklisted by the rest of the world because of its apartheid policies. “Because of the international sanctions, we had to stop serving New York. I had to come and close down our office there. It was quite emotional,” Bekke r recalled. “But things changed after the new democratic government came into power. We now have 70 airlines flying to South Africa.” He said that despite financial problems associated with a jump in fuel prices, SAA has managed to achieve annual sales of $2.5 billion. U.S. operations are considered extremely lucrative and account for 12 percent of all revenues. One of SAA’s most profitable flights is New York to Dakar, Senegal, a daily nonstop service that has proven very popular with business travelers needing to get to West Africa quickly. All told, SAA serves 20 destinations within South Africa and another 20 throughout the continent. Average load factor is “in the 80s,” said Bekker, who for competitive reasons declined to be more specific. “With the cost-saving measures we’ve implemented, this company is on a very positive track,” he said, noting that the airline hopes to save about $250 million this year. Until recently, Swissair had owned 20 percent of SAA, but since the demise of that airline, South African Airways has been 100 percent owned by the South African government. “We haven’t expanded our services to the States since 1999,” said Bekker. “Initially we had flights only to New York. Then we opened flights to Miami and began twice-a-day flights to and from both cities. We terminated Miami operations in 2000, moving them to Atlanta. For a time, we flew between Cape Town, Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta, but after 9/11—because of security issues—we couldn’t deplane people anymore in Fort Lauderdale.” Nevertheless, SAA has kept its U.S. headquarters in that city, mainly because office space is cheaper than in New York and because of lucrative tax breaks offered by the state of Florida and municipal officials. The airline employs 85 reservation agents and others at its spacious operations on the 16th floor of a bank building in downtown Fort Lauderdale. In addition to pushing tourism to South Africa itself—everything from safaris to wine tours—SAA is also trying to promote nearby countries on its route map. These include Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. Within the next few months, SAA will begin offering direct service between Johannesburg and Livingstone, Zambia’s gateway to Victoria Falls and one of Africa’s premier tourist destinations. Larry Luxner is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.