South African Airways Named 'Best Airline In Africa'

Fort Lauderdale, FL (July 13, 2016) – South African Airways (SAA), the national flag carrier of South Africa and Africa’s most awarded airline, has been named, “Best Airline in Africa” by Skytrax for the fourteenth consecutive year.  The award was presented to SAA at the Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony during the annual Farnborough Airshow in England on July 11^th. 

These prestigious awards are based on a consumer satisfaction survey that is conducted annually by Skytrax, an independent aviation research organization, which received 19.2 million entries from business and leisure travelers around the globe.  The online survey is open from August 2015 through May 2016, giving travellers and opportunity to rate their experience, both in the air and on the ground, and includes more than 200 airlines from the largest international carriers to smaller regional and domestic carriers.  It measure customer satisfaction across 41 key performance indicators of airline front-line products and service including; check-in, boarding, on-board seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, cuisine, beverages, inflight entertainment and staff service.

“We are rightfully excited and proud to have won the Skytrax Award as, Best Airline in Africa, for the fourteenth consecutive year, which demonstrates that SAA is still one of the foremost airlines in the world and a leader on the African continent,” said Musa Zwane, Acting Chief Executive Officer for South African Airways.  “Awards are important as they instil a sense of pride from our employees and customers alike.  This award is based on customer feedback, which sets SAA securely on course to reach its strategic objective of providing Excellent Customer Service”.

Commenting on the award, Edward Plaisted, Chief Executive Officer of Skytrax said, “Air travellers continue to recognize the excellent passenger experience that South African Airways delivers across domestic, regional and long-haul flights. The award for Best Airline in Africa is a great reward for staff and management at SAA, who should be proud of this fantastic achievement after a more than a decade as Africa’s best airline”.

In North America, South African Airways is consistently honoured with awards from leading travel publications as, “Best Airline to Africa” and “Best Business Class to Africa”.  On-board, SAA provides an inflight experience designed for pure comfort for long-haul travel. Our customers enjoy fully-flat seats in Premium Business Class, industry-leading legroom in Economy Class, gourmet cuisine and a selection of complimentary spirits and award-winning South African wines and generous checked baggage allowance. Also included are individual audio / visual entertainment systems that deliver an extensive menu of first-run movies and music choices.    Via our Johannesburg hub, SAA along with our regional airline partners, link the world to over 75 destinations across Southern Africa and Africa’s Indian Ocean islands.

For information www.flysaa.com or contact South African Airways’ Reservations at 1-(800) 722-9675.

About South African Airways

South African Airways (SAA), South Africa’s national flag carrier and the continent’s most awarded airline, serves 74 destinations worldwide in partnership with SA Express, Airlink and its low cost carrier Mango. In North America, SAA operates daily nonstop flights from New York-JFK and direct flights from Washington D.C.-IAD (via Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal) to Johannesburg. SAA has codes share agreements with United Airlines, Air Canada and JetBlue Airways, which offer convenient connections from more than 30 cities to SAA’s flights. SAA is a Star Alliance member and the recipient of the Skytrax 4-Star rating for 14 consecutive years.