Abstract:
The national airline of South Africa (South African Airways), reported
major losses for a number of consecutive years due to a significant fall in
average fares triggered amongst others by intense global competition.
This research compares fares offered on long haul direct inbound routes
into South Africa. Neutral Units of Construction and Maximum Permitted
Mileage values obtained from the dominant global distribution system
used in South Africa were used for fare comparison purposes. Results
indicate that in many instances South African Airways (SAA) was found to
be highly competitive, offering the cheapest available fares in the market
on the routes it served. From the research it is clear that the long haul
inbound South African Airways fares are competitively priced. It is
suggested that the airline uses this as a marketing tool to enhance
inbound sales. As this research eliminates inbound price competitiveness
as a major contributing factor to the financial losses of the airline, it is
suggested that further research is conducted investigating other internal
and external factors and fares that may contribute to airline profitability
and sustainability for the future.
