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 11th.
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.
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.
