West African nation fears that South African carrier will capture market
Ghanaian protectionism thwarts SAA
October 25, 2005
By Audrey d' Angelo
Cape Town - Protectionism by the Ghanaian government has so far prevented SAA's Washington flight from achieving its hoped-for success in attracting heavy passenger traffic between Accra and the US.
Although Ghana has had no national airline since the collapse of Ghana Airways two years ago, there are hopes of starting another. SAA's negotiations for air-traffic rights to pick up passengers in Accra bound for Washington have so far been unsuccessful.
This is not expected to change when United Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance which SAA is preparing to join, starts codeshare arrangements with our national carrier on the route next month. United has no plans at present to fly the route itself. Its passengers will be carried on the SAA flight.
Nomfanelo Magwentshu, SAA's executive manager for business development, said these arrangements would not enable SAA to take on United passengers in Accra.
Travel agents from Ghana and neighbouring countries who attended the Indaba travel show in Durban earlier this year were eager for the SAA flight to begin.
They said there was huge demand for non-stop flights between Accra and the US. Passengers at the moment have to travel by way of Johannesburg or Europe.
Magwentshu said the Ghanaian authorities clearly feared that SAA would capture the market before their own new airline started up. They did not realise that SAA could build up a sufficient market for both.
But she said SAA was now considering flights to more US destinations in addition to those it already had to New York, Atlanta and Washington. Those under consideration were Chicago and Denver, where United had hub airports that could carry SAA passengers on to other destinations, and Miami.
Although Miami is not a hub airport for any Star Alliance airlines, United and US Airways fly there and could offer connections. It was a popular destination for South Africans when SAA flew there in the past and large numbers of Americans flew to South Africa from there.
Magwentshu said that, despite the Star Alliance disapproval of codeshare arrangements with members of other alliances, SAA would continue its current arrangements with Australian airline Qantas for a time.
At present SAA flies between Johannesburg and Perth, and Qantas between Johannesburg and Sydney, carrying each other's passengers. Qantas belongs to the rival One World alliance.
SAA also had a two-year agreement to continue its codeshare arrangements with US airline Delta, which belongs to the Sky Team alliance, on the route between Johannesburg and Atlanta.
Delta does not fly to South Africa and SAA carries its passengers on the route.
But Magwentshu said the longstanding codeshare arrangements between SAA and Cathay Pacific Airways on the route between Johannesburg and Hong Kong would end. Both airlines have daily flights on the route and carry each other's passengers.
|
|
