Global airline British Airways (BA) on Wednesday opened South African ticket sales for its new Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft, which it plans to fly to Johannesburg from February 2014.
The company was offering discounts of up to 40% from South Africa to London, with World Traveller fares starting from R8 380, World Traveller Plus from R15 380, Club World from R30 380 and First from R53 380.
BA would initially operate the new large aircraft on the route three times a week and would increase this to six times a week by March 2014.
Johannesburg was the third A380 route to be confirmed since the carrier took delivery of its first superjumbo earlier this month, coming after Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Another two aircraft, from a total order of 12, were due to be delivered before the end of the year.
“We’ve long been clear about the importance of South Africa and our commitment to the market. We have expanded our schedules to both Cape Town and Johannesburg, established and developed very successful local partnerships and continually invest in our customers. Introducing the A380 is a further, unambiguous demonstration of our confidence,” BA Africa and Europe GM Gavin Halliday said.
BA’s acquisition of A380 aircraft are part of a five-year, £5-billion investment programme in new aircraft.