The South African Airways (SAA) has been selected as the best airline in Africa for its excellent serviceand convenient connections, the airline announced on Thursday.The state-owned airline has won the recognition for 10 consecutive years from SKYTRAX, a global aviation research organization based in London.SAA also won the Best Staff Service in Africa, the third time in succession.“SKYTRAX has again confirmed that SAA, with our excellent service and very convenient connections to 26 African destinations via our Johannesburg hub, ranks with the best in the world,” said SAA chief executive officer Siza Mzimela.He attributed SAA’s success to its consistent, professional and dedicated approach combined with its reliable fleet.Mzimela said the convenient connectivity SAA offers also played an important role in leading passengers to again rate SAA number one in Africa.Over 18 million businesses and leisure air travellers from 100 countries took part in a 2012 SKYTRAX survey that was run over a period of 10 months and covered over 200 airlines, from the largestinternational airlines to the smallest domestic airlines.Through telephone, questionnaires and online, the survey measured passenger satisfaction across nearly 40 key performance and service indicators including the airport and on-board environments; fromcheck-in to boarding, on board seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food and beverages as well as staff behavior and service standards and consistency.SAA serves more than 700 destinations throughout the world, carries more than 6.5 million passengers each year and serves 34 cities in 26 countries on six continents.
