As part of its strategic push into West Africa, South African Airways (SAA) has announced plans to operate fifth freedom flights linking Cape Town to the United States via Accra, Ghana.
Slated for launch by the end of 2026, the proposed route aims to strengthen transatlantic connectivity and position Accra as a key regional hub for intercontinental travel.
According to ch-aviation.com, CEO John Lamola made the announcement during a meeting with Ghana’s travel industry and media on April 8, the Ghanaian radio station Joy FM reported. Lamola highlighted Accra’s importance as a strategic hub for SAA.
“We are evaluating the possibility of starting a route directly between Ghana and Cape Town, as well as utilising Accra, like SAA has done before, as a connector to East Coast of the United States cities, certainly before the end of the next calendar year,” he said.
“It takes a long time, unfortunately, to launch a route, because of the regulatory processes, but our biggest challenge that we have in SAA, like other airlines, is the availability of aircraft. As soon as we get aircraft, we have done our studies, we will want to start flying to the United States East Coast from Accra,” he added.
SAA currently does not serve the US, but before entering its business rescue process in December 2019 it operated non-stop flights to New York JFK from Johannesburg; and Washington Dulles from Johannesburg via either Accra or Dakar Blaise Diagne International, Senegal, depending on the day of the week.
SAA is also keen to increase its Johannesburg O.R. Tambo-Accra flights from 4x to 7x weekly once the necessary equipment is secured, Lamola said, and discussions with Ghana’s transport minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, have taken place on enhancing connectivity between the two countries.
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Lamola also said that SAA is financially stable. “We have restructured South African Airways to where it is fairly financially sustainable,” he said, noting the airline’s mission to reclaim its status as a leading global brand.
In January, SAA announced its fleet had grown to 20 aircraft, after it emerged from business rescue with six aircraft in 2021. The airline is rolling out a plan to add five aircraft to its fleet during 2025. Lamola said that the carrier is expanding its fleet while focusing on consolidating its operations, increasing frequencies on existing routes to provide more direct access to key African cities.
According to ch-aviation fleets data, SAA’s fleet comprises twelve leased A320-200s with one more to be delivered; two leased A330-200s plus two more to be delivered; and two company-owned A340-300s. It also wet-leases one B737-300 from Cobra Aviation and two B737-800s from SunExpress.
Its international route network has grown to include Accra (Ghana), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), São Paulo Guarulhos (Brazil), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Harare International and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Kinshasa N’Djili and Lubumbashi (DR Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lusaka (Zambia), Mauritius, Perth International (Australia), and Windhoek International (Namibia).
