HILKA BIRNS / CAPE TOWN
South African Airways (SAA) has hinted that it will join the SkyTeam alliance later this year, as it reports that 2002 was one of its most profitable years.
The South African flag carrier says it will this year finalise its alliance choice, which is understood to have been narrowed down to either the Air France/Delta Air Lines-led SkyTeam or the Lufthansa/United Airlines' grouping Star Alliance. The carrier has ruled out membership of the British Airways/Qantas-led Oneworld due to potential breach of competition rules on routes to the UK.
According to SAA chief executive André Viljoen, the carrier wants to replace its various bilateral agreements with full alliance membership. SkyTeam may prove to be the most compatible because of Air France's strong position in West Africa. Despite strong links with several Star members, SAA's initial enthusiasm to join the alliance has cooled as a result of United's recent financial woes.
The airline had one of its best ever financial performances last year, making a R400 million ($50 million) operating profit, compared to a R1.2 billion loss the previous year after implementing cost savings, fleet renewal and fuel hedging. The fleet renewal has begun with the introduction of Airbus A340-600s and SAA is in negotiations to order either the extended-range, increased gross weight variant of the A340 or the ultra-large A380 to replace its eight Boeing 747-400s.
SAA is pursuing African growth, with the relaunch this month of Air Tanzania, in which it took a 49% stake last year, to serve domestic and regional routes from Dar es Salaam, and it is negotiating minority stakes in Air Nigeria and Air Malawi.
Source: Flight International
