Emirates Airlines signs a codeshare agreement with South African Airways
Dubai, 18 November / WAM / Emirates Airlines today announced the signing of a code-sharing agreement with South African Airways, based on a successful partnership spanning nearly three decades.
Under the agreement, Emirates customers will be able, through a single ticket and seamless baggage handling service, to easily access three domestic destinations in South Africa: Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, in addition to six other regional destinations in Africa, including Kinshasa, Windhoek, Lusaka, Harare, Victoria Falls and South African Airways’ newest destination, Gaborone, all via Johannesburg.
The codeshare agreement will also allow Emirates Airlines to benefit from connecting traffic coming from South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as passengers coming from distant destinations such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
This expansion comes based on the existing code-sharing partnership, which provides South African Airways customers with the ability to travel to Dubai on 56 weekly flights that Emirates will operate close to three major airports, in addition to 68 other global destinations available through the interconnection agreement between the two carriers.
Since January, more than 45,000 passengers have benefited from this partnership.
The agreement was signed by Adnan Kazim, Vice President and Chief Commercial Operations Officer at Emirates Airlines, and Professor Eng. John Lamola, CEO of South African Airways Group, during the Dubai Airshow 2025.
In addition to the codeshare agreement, the MoU includes additional areas of cooperation across loyalty programs and recharge operations, in addition to enhancing synergies between the two networks and operating schedules.
Adnan Kazim said: “The partnership concluded by Emirates Airlines with South African Airlines was one of the first partnerships in our portfolio, and since its signing in 1997, this relationship has contributed to providing reliable connectivity for travelers to explore more destinations around the world with ease and smoothness. South Africa remains an essential hub in our African network and one of the most markets in which we witness high and stable demand. Such partnerships are necessary to enable us to serve our customers inside and outside the market.”
For his part, Professor M. John Lamola: “This agreement represents a milestone in our 28-year partnership with Emirates Airlines, and reflects South African Airways’ commitment to providing seamless connectivity to our customers, and strengthening South Africa’s position as a pivotal aviation hub. By expanding the scope of our cooperation, we open broader horizons for travel and trade across Africa and globally, ensuring our customers benefit from world-class services and a comfortable and smooth travel experience.”
Building on a year that witnessed very high levels of demand, Emirates Airlines announced the launch of a third daily flight between Dubai and Cape Town from 1 July 2026. The new flight will be operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft, adding more than 600 seats daily to and from South Africa’s most visited city.
The current two daily flights witnessed high occupancy over the past year, especially during peak periods.
The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Emirates’ operations in South Africa, since its first flights to Johannesburg in 1995.
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