South African Airways (SAA) and Emirates have expanded their codeshare partnership, enabling access to nine new cities across southern and central Africa, and beyond.
Under the outgoing codeshare agreement, the two airlines operated on a unilateral basis, with the local airline placing its codes on Emirates-operated flights between Dubai and South African airports.
The new agreement will see Emirates place its code on SAA-operated flights, extending its network deeper into South Africa and neighbouring countries.
This expansion of the agreement covers nine new routes, including three domestic South African links connecting Johannesburg with Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha.
Additionally, six regional routes linking Johannesburg with Kinshasa, Gaborone, Windhoek, Lusaka, Harare, and Victoria Falls have been added to the existing routes.
The two airlines have maintained a partnership for almost 30 years, one of the longest inter-airline relationships in Emirates’ portfolio, benefiting millions of passengers.
According to Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and CCO, the reciprocal codeshare partnership is a natural evolution of a relationship that has served the airline’s customers well for many years.
“By placing our code on SAA’s domestic and regional network, we are opening up seamless access to destinations across South Africa and neighbouring countries, backed by the reliability and consistency our customers expect from Emirates,” he said.
“It reinforces our long-term commitment to South Africa and the wider region, and our confidence in the continent’s continued growth.”
Adding to this, Acting Group CEO of SAA, Matshela Seshibe, said the expansion marks an important milestone in South Africa’s regional carrier’s strategy to strengthen connectivity across Africa and beyond.
“Through this reciprocal codeshare agreement, customers will benefit from a more seamless travel experience and greater choice across our combined networks,” he said.
“This partnership is about more than connecting destinations. It is about connecting people, businesses and opportunities across the continent and beyond.”
The acting CEO noted that by combining the airlines’ networks, they are creating greater value for travellers, while reinforcing Johannesburg’s role as a key gateway for travel, trade and tourism in Africa.
International travel to South Africa on the rise
Tourism in South Africa continues to demonstrate resilience and sustained growth, with international tourist arrival numbers performing well in the first half of the year.
This is according to the Department of Tourism, which reported that South Africa welcomed 5,584,473 international tourists between January and June 2026, representing a 12.3% increase compared to the same period last year.
Growth was underpinned by a 14.3% increase in arrivals from Africa over the same period, with overseas arrivals growing by 5.6%.
The department said that this growth reaffirms South Africa’s appeal in both regional and overseas markets.
In June alone, South Africa welcomed 823,365 international tourists, representing a nearly 10% increase when compared to the same month in 2025, while arrivals from the rest of Africa increased 12.1% year-on-year.
June was also the second consecutive month the United States was South Africa’s leading overseas market, with 40,566 American tourists visiting the country.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille declared that her department’s deliberate decision to diversify tourism products is yielding positive results.
“The sustained growth in both regional and overseas arrivals reflects the resilience of our tourism sector and the effectiveness of the partnerships we have built with industry and our international markets,” she said.
“We will continue strengthening these relationships through joint marketing initiatives across the African continent while expanding our reach into strategic overseas markets.”
The Tourism Minister added that this positive growth reinforces the government’s commitment to improving access and expanding air connectivity to and from South Africa.
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