Originally Posted by
thijsseh
I was once (almost) a regular on CPT/LHR. It was almost always packed in Y and J, so how they could not make money on that route escapes me.
When they ditched that and made the Voyager programme basically worthless for me (not necessarily for everyone, but certainly for me when the AMEX benefits were seriously cut at more or less the same time). I ditched SAA. Now a very satisfied EK 'addict'.
I highly doubt they ever lost money on that route. Those excellent loads were achieved despite fares that they would have killed for on other routes. It seemed obvious to me at the time that they were selling the family silver because they were desperate for short-term financial gains regardless of the long-term cost.
It was also mooted that for the ANC a welcome political side effect of closing CPT as a European destination would be to do damage to tourism for the Cape - and hence be a blow to the DA government of the province. That seems pretty far fetched to me, but who knows...
I wonder if it would have made sense to fly to Gatwick. Not a *A hub and far fewer possibiliities for connecting traffic but isn't London sustainable on an O&D basis?