A decision by South African Airways to cut its Johannesburg-Buenos Aires route next year has angered tour operators in both destinations.
The national carrier is working through a turnaround plan with a particular focus on loss-making services to London, Frankfurt, New York and Beijing.
But the decision to cut Buenos Aires, rather than an earlier move to axe Beijing, has drawn a strong response from Argentina, with tourism operators there writing to South Africa’s public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba and SAA CEO Monwabisi Kalawe.
Alan Winde, Western Cape minister of finance, tourism and economic development, told South Africa’s Tourism Update: "Ahead of the peak tourism season this is a particular blow. It does not inspire confidence in South Africa’s air access strategy.
"If we are serious about investment, exports and tourism, we need more direct routes, not fewer."
South African tour operators have also slammed the move. Inbound operator Rhino Safaris has written an open letter to SAA’s Kalawe expressing concern at the decision.
"We at Rhino Africa Safaris believe that this termination would have grave repercussions, not just for businesses like ourselves, but for South African tourism as a whole," CEO David Ryan wrote.
He described SAA’s termination of the route as ‘premature’ and called on the airline to consider reducing the schedule instead.
