Airline commences direct flights between Abuja and Johannesburg

It's goodbye to routing through Lagos from South Africa for Abuja residents as South African Airways has introduced the Abuja route to its previously existing Lagos route in Nigeria.

According to the airline, this new route plays a significant role in enabling the movement of goods and people between Southern Africa and West Africa thereby enhancing the growing trade and cultural exchanges between these two regions.

It would be recalled that in August, SAA introduced the Accra, Ghana to Washington Dulles, USA route  in cooperation with Africa World Airways.

Speaking further on the introduction of the Abuja route,  the Chief Commercial Officer, SAA, Sylvain Bosc added that "enhancing air travel links with Nigeria speaks to the growth in bilateral relations between South Africa and Nigeria."

He added that the Abuja flights have been scheduled for seamless connectivity into SAA’s inter-continental route network to destinations such as Perth, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo which will make it easy for regional traders, business and leisure travellers from the northern and central parts of Nigeria to seamlessly connect through O.R Tambo International airport to the airline’s inter-continental and regional route network.

The three weekly flights; which will commence on January 26th from the O.R Tambo International Airport, will operate non-stop between Johannesburg and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja aboard modern Airbus 330-200s.

South African Airlines now serves 11 destinations (including Abuja) in Central and West Africa, with flights from its Johannesburg hub to Lagos (Nigeria); Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Cotonou (Benin); Accra (Ghana); Douala (Cameroon), Dakar (Senegal), Libreville (Gabon), Kinshasa (DRC), Pointe Noire and Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo).