Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
LUFTHANSA AND South African Airlines (SAA) have put signatures to a co-operation agreement, now scheduled to come in to force from 1 April.
The agreement, signed by Lufthansa's chairman Jurgen Weber and his SAA counterpart Mike Myburgh on 15 December, follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the two airlines in May. "Southern Africa is no longer a blank spot in the network of our global alliances," says Weber.
The partnership will begin with the establishment of code-share flights, further freight co-operation and the merging of frequent-flyer programmes. Ground handling and the sharing of lounges will also be incorporated during the third quarter of 1996.
Co-operation in freight transport is to be expanded, building on joint services already introduced in 1995 by Lufthansa Cargo and SAA Cargo. With the introduction of SAA's Boeing 747-200 freighter service from Johannesburg in October, the partners have already increased joint cargo flights between Germany and South Africa from two to four weekly services.
Conditional on the approval of traffic rights, the airlines will offer 29 weekly code-share flights linking Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Lufthansa will offer ten flights, with SAA offering 19.
Doubts remain over the future of SAA's code-share agreement with American Airlines, in the light of Lufthansa's strategic partnership with United Airlines. Lufthansa declines to comment on the issue, although Weber has previously said that the SAA/American partnership would probably have to be reviewed.
Source: Flight International
