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Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has granted approval for South African Airways (SAA) to cease operating the route between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi‚ the National Treasury has announced. SAA commenced flying the route in March 2015 but it had not performed as expected‚ Treasury said in a statement.

“SAA’s interventions to improve the financial performance on this route had unfortunately not yielded the desired results‚ warranting that decisive action be taken to mitigate the negative impact on the airline‚” it added.

SAA operated the route in codeshare with Etihad Airways. Etihad will still be flying between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi‚ and offering South African Airways passengers the opportunity to connect to a range of destinations in China‚ India and Asia as well as in Europe and the Middle East.

“The National Treasury and the Department of Tourism are certain that the decision will not impact tourism and connectivity. The National Treasury worked closely with the Department of Tourism to weigh the costs and benefits of closing the route and agreed that the closure was in the best interest of both South Africa and SAA.” — Sowetan