Local Carrier Signs Deal With SAA

May 26, 2003

East African Airlines (EAA) has signed an interline agreement with the South African Airlines (SAA).

By Jean-Marie Nsambu
East African Airlines (EAA) has signed an interline agreement with the South African Airlines (SAA).
The agreement signed early this month, is expected to take effect in June. Passengers booked by either carrier will then be able to fly on planes of either company, with no extra cost.
The agreement will expand the network of both air companies beyond the destinations which they covered prior to the deal, said EAA Uganda country manager Jenifer Bamuturaki-Musiime. With this deal there will now be flights to Johannesburg every day except Mondays.
carrier, depending on their convenience.”
She added in the press release, that the interline arrangement will offer flexibility to discerning travelers, who now have 5 flights a week, from which to choose.
“EAA has two flights to Johannesburg, on Tuesday and Saturday, while SAA flies to Entebbe on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
It means that a person can fly to any of the destinations by one airliner and return the next day by another, without waiting for the day before the plane of the airlines, with which he/she booked, would be flying.”
Bamuturaki-Musiime said that both airlines accept each others’ documents, an arrangement that creates flexibility and convenience on the routes, without additional costs.
This agreement is indefinite. But, it bears a termination clause, where any of the company wishing to end the dual-understanding has to give a three-months notice to the other party.
At a cocktail party EAA organised for its partners in business, Thursday evening, the company’s chief executive officer Benedict Mutyaba, reiterated EAA’s safety.
Flanked by some of his captains and crew members, Mutyaba assured the hundreds of guests, many of whom were tour and travel agents that an e-mail circulated to them recently, alleging unsafe operations of EAA, was from a rival company envious of the competition EAA posses in the region.
Further stressing the point, Mutyaba revealed that eminent companies still acclaim EAA’s operations. “For instance, we have concluded Special Prorate Agreements (SPAs) with British Airways (BA) and Gulf Air.”
He said that because of the confidence they have in EAA operations, when BA suspended flights to Nairobi, following high terrorist threats against British nationals in Kenya, it asked “EAA fill that vaccum”. Ends


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