South African Airways
South African Airways (SAA) is the national flag-carrier, serving more than thirty international destinations, together with all major South African cities, additional domestic services are provided by regional partner airline SA Express.
History
South African Airways was formed on February 1 1934 when the South African government took over the assets of Union Airways.
The company was split during the Second World War into two segments, one of which was managed by the ministry of defence and on May 24, 1940 the entirety of South African Airways became a military concern.
In April 1945 the airline became one of the forty four founding members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
From 1986 into the 1990s several restrictions were placed on the airlines operations this led to the suspension of United States and Australian flights.
SAA returned two 747-400s to lessors in 2006. Some units were be sold off completely. The route network was also be scrutinised, one result of which was the decision to discontinue the loss making service to Paris, from October 2007.