Southern Africa's state-owned airlines are getting their act into gear. Following hard on the heels of the SAA announcement that it is stopping flying the Cape Town to Durban route, Air Botswana has announced that it's stopping direct flights from Johannesburg to Maun (the tourism “capital” of Botswana and a staging point for safaris, flights to lodges and sightseeing flights). These announcements follow Air Namibia's decision to quit the Cape Town – Luderitz route.
All the airlines have offered alternatives – South African Airways has said passengers can fly with their low-cost subsidiary, Mango Airlines; Air Botswana is offering 1-stop flights from Johannesburg to Maun via Gaborone (lengthening the 842km trip to over 6 hours) and Air Namibia is offering charter flights from Cape Town to Luderitz.
These taxpayer-funded airlines have had their troubles. SAA & Air Namibia required serial taxpayer bailouts to keep their heart beating, whilst Air Botswana has struggled since October 1999, when in one foul swoop a disturbed pilot crashed an ATR42 turboprop into Air Botswana's other 2 ATR42s, destroying 3 of the airline's 4 planes.
From where I stand, I see Air Botswana, Air Namibia and SAA's rationalisation of their routes as being hard-nosed commercial decisions, and as a taxpayer dreading another SAA bailout, I support viable business decisions (although I'll miss the opportunity of easy connections to Luderitz and Maun).