South African Airways (SAA) is also referred to as
Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens
in
Afrikaans. SAA is the country’s largest domestic as well as international carrier. It has its main operating bases in Cape Town and Johannesburg and their head office is located at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
South African Airways was actually bought by the Government of South Africa in the year 1934. It was initially known as Union Airways and was rechristened as South African Airways shortly thereafter.
South African Airways has a fleet of 49 aircraft and offers service to close to 60 destinations throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. SAA is also a member of Star Alliance™ which allows their passengers easy access to more than 1,000 other airports worldwide with their partners which include the likes of Air Canada, British Midland, Tap Air Portugal, Lufthansa, United Airlines, US Airways, Turkish Airlines and a few others.
This airline also has an impressive safety record with no accidents throughout its entire history. The only incident associated with the airline was the hijacking of their Boeing 727 (ZS-SBE) on May 24, 1972 on its journey from Salisbury in Harare, Zimbabwe to Johannesburg.
