CAPE TOWN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- South African Airways (SAA) on Monday announced its decision to reinstate its flights on the African continent as a strike continued to grip the national carrier.
The SAA plans to resume flights to six destinations on the African continent, namely Accra, Lagos, Lusaka, Maputo, Windhoek and Harare, from Tuesday, Nov. 19, the airline said in a statement.
This is in addition to all SAA international flights, which are now fully operational, the airline said.
The SAA resumed international flights to New York, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Perth, London, Frankfurt and Washington on Sunday night.
However, all domestic flights remain suspended.
The airline thanked those staff who decided to work despite receiving threats and intimidation from the unions, the statement said.
"We are pleased that SAA is now able to increase services and to offer our customers more flights on the African continent, and that all our international flights are back on schedule," SAA Chief Commercial Officer Philip Saunders said.
The SAA is continuing discussions with labor and remain committed to reaching a prompt resolution in the best interests of all parties, he said.
SAA employees went on strike on Friday after the airline rejected their demand for an 8 percent wage increase and planned to go ahead with its retrenchment of 944 jobs -- almost a fifth of its employees, as part of its turnaround strategy.
