page_title: South African Airways
section_title: Effect of apartheid: 1985–1990
hierarchical_section_title: South African Airways / History / Effect of apartheid: 1985–1990
caption_attribution_description: English: South African Airways Airbus A340-200 (ZS-SLD) lands at London Heathrow Airport, England.
context_page_description: South African Airways is the state-owned flag carrier airline of South Africa. Headquartered in Airways Park at O.R Tambo International Airport, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, linking over 40 local and international destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania from its base at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The carrier joined Star Alliance in April 2006, making it the first African carrier to sign with one of the three airline alliances.
context_section_description: Due to international opposition to apartheid during the 1980s, SAA's offices were attacked. In Harare, Zimbabwe, its offices were badly damaged after protesters went on a rampage.
  The US Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 banned all flights by South African–owned carriers, including SAA. In 1987, SAA's services to Perth and Sydney in Australia were ended, in light of the Australian Government's opposition to apartheid. The South African Airways Museum Society opened its doors to the public at Jan Smuts International Airport (which was renamed the OR Tambo International Airport in 2006). The organisation was formed by South African Airways employees and outside parties with the mission of preserving South African aviation history, especially SAA itself. Based at Transvaal Aviation Club, Rand Airport, Germiston, it was founded after the restoration of the Junkers Ju 52/3ms. Since then, many aircraft have joined SAA Museum Society's collection relating to South African aviation.
  With the demise of apartheid in 1990, SAA started services to former and new destinations in Africa and Asia. On 1 June 1990 South African companies signed a domestic air travel deregulation act. Flights to New York City's JFK International Airport resumed in November 1991 and SAA's planes were able to fly for the first time over Egypt and Sudan, on 8 September. The airline launched flights to Milan on 1 June during the year, and services to Athens were re-introduced. Also, an interline with Aeroflot was established.
  The first of SAA's eight Boeing 747-400s, named Durban, arrived in South Africa on 19 January 1991. The airline was unusual in that two different turbofan engines were operated. Six Rolls-Royce RB211-524H-powered examples were ordered; the other two, part of an unfulfilled Philippine Airlines order, had General Electric CF6-80C2B5Fs. Winglets, structural changes, as well as fuel-efficient engines enabled these aircraft to fly non-stop from South Africa to the East coast of the United States. The arrival of Boeing's newest jumbo jet perhaps overshadowed the acquisition by SAA of the world's first commercial fly-by-wire airliner, the Airbus A320, to assist and enhance services within the country and on regional services. Boeing 767s arrived in August 1993 and flew on African, Southern European and Middle Eastern routes. They were retired within ten years.
  During 1992, SAA began flights to Miami with a Cape Town to Miami International Airport route, and re-entered Australia, flying directly to Perth with a same-day return "shuttle" service to Sydney. This year also saw codesharing agreements with American Airlines and Air Tanzania. There were direct flights to Bangkok and Singapore; the latter was discontinued by 1996. The airline Alliance, a partnership between SAA, Uganda Airlines and Air Tanzania, also began. SAA greeted its passengers in four different languages during domestic flights: English, Zulu, Afrikaans and Sotho, while passengers on international flights were also greeted in the destination's language.
  On 24 April 1994, South African Express (SA Express), a feeder airline service of South African, began operating after a 3-year preparation process begun in 1991, when the regional airline was granted its operating license. SAA initially held a 20% stake in SA Express (Alliance Airline Holdings held 51%, SA Enterprises, 24.9% and Abyss Investments, 4.1%). SA Express took over some of South African's low-density domestic routes.
  In 1995, Lufthansa started a codesharing agreement with SAA, and SAA commissioned Diefenbach Elkins and Herdbuoys to lead its change of image. SAA's Voyager and American Airlines' AAdvantage frequent flier clubs joined together.
  As of April 1996, South African employed 11,100 people, of whom 3,100 were engineers. It owned and operated 48 aircraft, and served 34 destinations from its hubs at Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
caption: Airbus A340-200 landing at London Heathrow Airport. (2010)
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