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SAA Adds Abidjan, Brazzaville to Africa Route Network
June 27, 2012

South African Airways (SAA) will add Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to its route network, bringing the number of its destinations in Africa to 28. The airline will introduce twice-weekly service to Abidjan on Aug. 17.

The flights will be added as an extension to SAA’s Accra, Ghana, flights on Tuesdays and Fridays. SAA secured traffic rights between Accra and Abidjan, allowing it to fly between the cities in either direction.

SAA will begin twice-weekly service to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on Sept. 13. The Brazzaville route will use an Airbus A319-200 aircraft, while the Abidjan service will be operated on the same Airbus A330-200 widebody aircraft that serves Accra. Both markets are scheduled to fit optimally with the arrival and departure of SAA’s international flights at OR Tambo International Airport, offering passengers connections through Johannesburg.

The additions are part of the airline’s African growth strategy, through which it is expanding its presence on the continent and establishing connections with previously difficult-to-reach destinations. The new routes are the sixth and seventh introduced since October 2011. Cotonou, Benin, and Pointe Noire, Congo, were also recently added.

Abidjan is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. It is also the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris and Kinshasa. Brazzaville is the financial and administrative capital of the Republic of Congo.

The city is located on the Congo River, and as of the 2001 census, it has a population of 1,018,541 in the city proper, and about 1.5 million in total when including the suburbs located in the Pool Region. Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with more than 10 million inhabitants, is directly across the Congo River from Brazzaville.

Together with Kinshasa, the combined metropolitan area of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has nearly 12 million inhabitants.

South African Airways is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 26 destinations across the continent, as well as major destinations within South Africa and internationally from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance.

Source :- http://www.travelpulse.com/