SAA short term fleet expansion

 Hello Aviators and welcome back to another blog. South African Airways has announced that it will temporarily expand its fleet again. This short-term fleet expansion comes from a damp-lease agreement with Turkish-German carrier, Sun Express that was signed in 2023. The initial phase of the contract aimed at an immediate short-term capacity increase for SAA, had stipulated that Sun Express would provide SAA with 2 aircraft for 6 months in the year 2023/2024, and now the 2nd phase of this partnership involves Sun Express providing 4 aircraft to South African Airways for the 2024/2025 period. The 4 aircraft are set to join the SAA fleet at the perfect time as we are now approaching the peak travel season in South Africa, the aircraft will only leave after the 2nd peak travel season, the Easter period. The first aircraft is set to join the fleet in November with the rest following shortly after and remaining for 6 months. The airline will operate these aircraft on behalf of SAA.

Sun Express Boeing 737-800 in default livery. Image by Didier Goursolas

 This benefits both carriers as Sun Express is now entering a lower travel demand period in Europe where they operate, and SAA benefits from added capacity allowing it to be more competitive during the festive and Easter season. The added aircraft will provide SAA with additional operational capacity in the form of 20 additional daily flights and 134 weekly flights across 3 routes, with one of those routes being the popular Johannesburg to Cape Town route. Under the lease agreement, Sun Express will provide SAA with the aircraft as well as the cockpit and maintenance crew. The aircraft in question are 4 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, currently one of the most common commercial aircraft in South Africa with FlySafair being the only operator of the type in the country. 

Sun Express Boeing 737-800 wearing the SAA livery. Image by Austin Ferreira 

This temporary fleet expansion comes at a time when SAA is in the process of expanding its long-term fleet, to add capacity to more routes, and also open more routes, all in an attempt to further strengthen its position as a key player on the African continent. Currently, the airline operates a fleet of 12 aircraft consisting of  8 Airbus A320's, 2 A330's and 2 A340's. Over the coming months, SAA will add 2 new A320s, registered ZS-SZG and ZS-SZH, all to add to their long-term capacity, not just short-term for this peak travel season in South Africa. 

South African Airways Airbus A320. Image by William Vignes

For the aviators who remember, SAA used to operate a fleet of about 21 Boeing 737-800s from around 2000 with the last leaving the fleet in 2018. These ended up at either FlySafair who were the rightful owners or Mango, and then eventually going back to lessors after the collapse of Mango. Although it is only for 6 months, it will be wonderful to once again see the South African flag being proudly worn by the 737-800. Thank you for reading this blog, and till the next one, STAY FLYING HIGH. 

A SAA Boeing 737-800. Image by Hannes Meyer

**DISCLAIMER. ALL IMAGES USED IN THE BLOG DO NOT BELONG TO ME, ALL IMAGES USED HAVE BEEN FOUND ON PLANESPOTTERS.NET AS WELL AS JETPHOTOS.COM. ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS NAMES HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE IMAGES SO AS TO NOT CLAIM THE IMAGES AS MY OWN**