19 December 2013
South African Airways has been named as the best airline to Africa by readers of three well-known business travel magazines in the United States, reaffirming its long- standing position as Africa’s most awarded airline and preferred carrier for business travel to the continent, the national carrier said in a statement on Wednesday.
<p. The “triple crown of awards” was bestowed by readers of Premier Traveler Magazine, Business Traveler Magazine and Global Traveler Magazine.
Global Traveler named SAA as Africa’s best airline for the tenth consecutive year, earning the airline a spot in the magazine’s hall of fame.
The magazines’ readers are described as “well-seasoned global travellers who are experienced in evaluating the services provided to passengers by airlines”.
“The readers of these three prestigious magazines are truly discriminating and difficult to impress, given their extensive travel to all corners of the globe,” said Marc Cavaliere, SAA’s Head of Global Sales Development and Alliances.
“It is certainly a feather in our cap to be named their favorite airline to the African continent, and to even earn a spot in Global Traveler’s hall of fame. We will work hard to continue to earn their loyalty and praise by offering the most convenient schedules and the most comfortable amenities from North America to the African continent.”
Africa’s most awarded airline
In addition to those awards, SAA was named the best airline in Africa in a global customer satisfaction survey at the 50th International Paris Air Show in June, at the Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony.
It was SAA’s eleventh consecutive year of winning the best airline in Africa award, making it the continent’s most awarded airline.
Skytrax, an independent aviation research organisation, annually conducts a customer satisfaction survey of 18-million business and leisure air travellers from 160 countries to choose the winners from more than 200 airlines. These range from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers.
Forty-one key performance indicators for passenger satisfaction are measured, including check-in, boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, inflight entertainment and staff service.
Since the beginning of 2013, SAA has also scooped six accolades including a 4 Star Skytrax rating for the eleventh consecutive year, the on-time performance service award by Flightstats as the winner in the Middle East and Africa region, and African cargo airline of the year from STAT Times, which is an international award for excellence, according to a report on Fin24.
SAA operates to 42 destinations worldwide, including 26 destinations across Africa. Domestically, it offers 660 flights a week.
SAinfo reporter and SAA
