South African Airways airlifts over 3m Nigerians in 20 years

South African Airways (SAA) yesterday marked 20 years of non-stop direct flight service to Nigeria with over 3m passengers airlifted.

SAA, one of the leading carriers in the sub-Saharan Africa, had it first flight into Nigeria on December 4, 1998 almost immediately after the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries was signed.

Group Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Vuyani Jarana who briefed newsmen in Lagos yesterday said the Nigerian market had shown a lot of commitment to the SAA brand.

This is just as authorities in South Africa have put in place modalities to ease issuance of visa for Nigerian travellers as part of government’s drive to promote tourism.

Jarana recalled that given the critical role Nigeria played in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the SAA was deployed to promote ease of movement and trade relations between the two countries.

This is why he said it is important to address difficulties in the issuance of prospective visitors Africa.

SAA operates a daily service to Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos, with state of the art on-demand inflight entertainment system, increased economy and business class space.

“This is a market that has shown a lot of commitment to the South African Brand. We are also prepared to improve on our service. We have also brought aircraft with iconic business. We will continue to improve and look for ways to increase our visas to to South