South African Airways seeks UAE stop on Beijing & Mumbai with support from Emirates or Etihad

South African Airways (SAA) is looking to expand its partnership with Emirates or Etihad and add a stop in Dubai or Abu Dhabi on its Mumbai and Beijing services. SAA faces a challenging future but its outlook could brighten significantly if it is able to persuade Emirates or Etihad, with both of which it has (relatively limited) codeshares, to agree to a comprehensive tie-up.

Improving the viability of at least two Asian routes through stopovers in the Middle East is among several initiatives aimed at improving the profitability of SAA's long-haul network. All three of SAA's Asian routes and all 10 of its long-haul routes are currently unprofitable with Beijing seeing the largest losses per flight. SAA recently rescheduled its Beijing flights and added a fourth weekly frequency but believes other changes are needed to turn around the route.

Johannesburg-Hong Kong could also potentially benefit from a stopover but for now will be maintained non-stop while SAA ponders stops for the Beijing and Mumbai routes.