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South African Airways (SAA) has reactivated its codeshare agreement with Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes.
This partnership, paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, offers benefits like more fare options, single ticket purchases, and streamlined check-in and baggage processes for connecting flights.
This announcement follows the launch of SAA’s direct flights to São Paulo, Brazil, nine months ago, and direct flights to Perth, Australia, five months ago.
The agreement includes flights between Cape Town International, OR Tambo International, and Galeão-Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It also extends to domestic routes connecting Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, and Johannesburg.
SAA will also add its code to over 20 Gol-operated flights within Brazil, including cities such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, and Porto Alegre.
In the future, the airlines plan to add 60 more destinations across Latin America and Africa, making multi-city itineraries easier to plan.
“The reinstatement of the codeshare agreement affirms Brazil’s status as a strategically important destination for South Africa,” said SAA Chief Commercial Officer Tebogo Tsimane, as per TopAuto.
“It connects two major economies in the southern hemisphere to enable leisure tourism, and to facilitate business, networking, and trade.”
Currently, SAA runs two flights per week between Guarulhos and Cape Town, and two between São Paulo and Johannesburg, using Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
In addition to this renewed agreement, SAA plans to expand its operations significantly.
By the end of April, SAA aims to increase its destinations from 14 to 23 and expand its fleet by 50% to 21 aircraft by March.
Interim Chief Executive Officer John Lamola mentioned that SAA has the funds to support this growth and plans to open routes to Frankfurt, Munich, London, and US East Coast cities by March 2028.
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