South African Airways has announced its first intercontinental route since its return to the skies in September 2021.

The carrier will start flights to São Paulo, Brazil, from both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline will kick off the flights from Cape Town on October 31, while the Johannesburg-São Paulo service will commence on November 6.

Bookings are already open.

SAA will fly to Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in São Paulo a total of four times a week – twice out of Cape Town (Tuesdays and Saturdays) and twice out of Johannesburg (Mondays and Thursdays).

During the Northern hemisphere winter season (October to December), flight SA 0226, will depart Cape Town at 12h55 and arrive in São Paulo at 16h35. The return flight from São Paulo, SA 0227, will depart at 18h05 and arrive in Cape Town at 06h40.

From Johannesburg, SA 0222 will depart at 11h20 and arrive in São Paulo at 16h15, and the return flight, SA 0223, will depart São Paulo at 17h45, arriving in Johannesburg at 07h45 the following morning.

SAA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Tebogo Tsimane, said in a press release: “We have created an effective schedule which is ideal for both business and leisure travellers and our schedule is fantastic for connecting traffic.”

Tsimane said Voyager members could earn miles at a high rate when flying on an SAA-operated flight, with one SAA Voyager mile for every R1.60 spent. The accumulation of miles counted towards Elite status, he added.

São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city with 21.1 million residents, is also the country’s financial centre and one of the biggest financial hubs in the world.

SAA’s interim CEO, Professor John Lamola, said: “We are overjoyed to announce São Paulo as our first international destination since the airline successfully emerged from an intensive business rescue process and COVID-19 lockdown. It also marks the return of our long-haul services out of Cape Town.

“Our decision to begin the relaunch of our long-haul service with São Paulo was taken based on a rigorous analysis of the viability of the route. Sustainability has been at the heart of SAA’s approach since our restart.”

SAA has appointed Air Promotion Group (APG) as its GSA in Brazil.