SAA to cancel CPT-LHR

There is some more information about the route being axed here (see link below). One reason was that demand had fallen by 24 per cent in the past three years for all the three carriers plying the route.

But I also wonder if some of the traffic has shifted to the Gulf carriers ?
I know it’s a longer flight to SA via the Gulf but carriers like EK/EY/QR offer departures from more European airports.

http://www.fin24.com/Companies/TravelAndLeisure/SAA-stops-Cape-Town-London-flights-20120605

Dear all,

SA stopped flying to CDG despite daily fully booked planes( and fine flat seats), then moved to Munich (as a member of StarAlliance). AF launched a double daily route, now replaced with the A380.
AF which stopped flying to CPT years ago is back on the route for already some months. Ending CPT LHR sounds unclear..

Perhaps a combination of factors prompted SAA to abandon this route:

1. Maybe the yield is poor. Even though a flight may be fully booked, unless passengers are paying the right price then that flight will be unprofitable. This especially applies to SAA where CPT is more of a leisure route than a business route.
2. Cost of fuel. Long distance flights are not fuel efficient.
3. The economic situation in Europe.
4. SAA has little feeder traffic. Being at the end of the line, SAA cannot offer the variety of connections like the European carriers. Also LHR is a Oneworld stronghold so few connecting possibilities here.
5. Poor aircraft utilisation. SAA’s flight from CPT arrives into LHR early in the morning. It then spends almost 15 hours on the ground at LHR before returning in the late evening. Imagine how much the parking fees are at LHR for this length of time.
6. Competition from the Gulf airlines.

I agree, Bucksnet.
But BD has quit Star (so no more Star links for UK domestic routes) while passengers flying ex-CPT into mainland Europe or Scandinavia are just as likely to change planes at Star hubs in FRA or JNB. For example: CPT-FRA-CPH, CPT-FRA-MUC or CPT-JNB-ZRH.

SAA’s loads were generally lower than BA’s for the same days. Load is not of course directly related to yield, but for political reasons and jobs for the boys SAA carry a lot of frees/upgrades/favours. Also their a/c may not be as fuel efficient as BA but the underlying problem is PPM. The M stands for Managemunt.

And to add fuel to the fire, just look at those desirable slots. arrive at 0620 and depart 2100. Perfect for any number of long haul routes east or south or even west arrivals. Surely SAA are selling them for a lot of £M unless they were ;leased from bmi – seems unlikely given the length of their tenure on the route. So who will buy them?

SAA have said that they do not anticipate losing traffic as people will go via JNB. They are increasing capacity on the JNB LHR route to accommodate the CPT pax.

What planet do they inhabit?

(I used to work for them!)

“A thorough analysis of the route made it clear that we could use our aircraft more profitably elsewhere while continuing to ensure excellent business and tourism links between the Western Cape and the UK with our significant capacity via Johannesburg,” said Theunis Potgieter, SAA”s general manager commercial.
“Anyone who has booked a flight between Cape Town and London after August 15th will be rerouted via Johannesburg at no additional charge,” said Potgieter. “Passengers choosing not to be rerouted will be refunded.”
SAA currently has two daily services between London Heathrow and Johannesburg and will be increasing its capacity on these flights by 13% through use of larger aircraft to accommodate passengers on this route.
The airline says aircraft will be redeployed to better serve its growing Accra, Mumbai and Perth routes and to add Abidjan to the network.