South African Airways long-haul turnaround continues with Accra-Washington launch & A340 extensions

South African Airways (SAA) is continuing attempts to turn around its long-haul operation by switching, in Aug-2015, the stopover point on some of its Washington Dulles flights from Dakar in Senegal to Accra in Ghana. SAA expects strong local demand for the new Accra-Washington leg compared to virtually no local demand for Dakar-Washington, which should result in a significant improvement in its US operation.

In Mar-2015 SAA made an initial two major steps in restructuring its long-haul network by suspending services to Beijing and Mumbai while launching services to Abu Dhabi as part of an enhanced partnership with Etihad. SAA's long-haul operation, which has been highly unprofitable in recent years, also has seen significant improvements due to lower fuel prices and lower aircraft leasing costs following the extension of A340 leases at lower rates.

But SAA still faces challenges as it tries to complete a difficult to achieve turnaround of its long-haul operation. SAA will need to ultimately acquire new generation widebody aircraft, which it has delayed multiple times. SAA will likely now keep at least a portion of its A340 fleet operating until at least 2020, a potentially risky decision should oil prices rise again.