South African Airways (SAA) continues to set the bar in customer service by winning once again the ‘Best Airline Staff in Africa’ award at the annual World Airline Awards hosted by Skytrax, the Oscars of the aviation industry held on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in London.

In SAA’s sixth triumph, this award recognises service excellence covering a spectrum of front-line customer service touch points; highlighting SAA’s rating as offering the best service in terms of airport staff and onboard experience. The awards rate customer satisfaction across staff service efficiency, friendliness, hospitality, language skills and overall quality consistency across front-line staff.

Under the category ‘Best Airline Staff in Africa’ SAA also won for Best Business Class Lounge in Africa, Best Cabin Crew in Africa, and Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness in Africa. Mango Airlines secured the Best Low-Cost Carrier in Africa carrier top spot for the third time at this year’s prestigious awards.

SAA also retained its 4-Star rating for the 16th year, a seal of quality approval awarded to airlines supplying good quality performance across a range of rating criteria. According to Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted, “The South African Airways brand of service continues to delight customers across their network. This award, which is voted for by SAA passengers, is excellent recognition for the dedicated frontline staff.”

“We’re exceptionally pleased to be rated as having the Best Airline Staff in Africa for the sixth time, this speaks to our level of consistency with regards to service excellence throughout our customers travel journey. It’s a significant pat on the back for us to see our employees’ hard work being recognised on such a global scale, particularly in light of strong competition from other African Airlines,” says SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali. “Our customers have very high expectations and the ability for SAA to constantly meet those is phenomenal. We continue to enhance our consumer experience under the current turnaround strategy to ensure that expectations are not only met but are exceeded on every flight,” concludes Tlali.

The World Airline Awards, now in their 18th consecutive year, are the epitome of excellence in the aviation industry and illustrate a vote of confidence from millions of global travellers annually. Through a consumer survey, travellers have the opportunity to rate their experience over a 10-month period in-flight and on the ground, allowing them to make their own personal choice regarding which airline they consider the best across a range of categories.

South African Airways is undergoing a major turnaround strategy which will see an improved customer experience shift over the next few years, seeing the business make critical changes to bring it back to profitability and continue to showcase best in class service and on-time rankings. One of the key focus areas is centred on fostering excellent customer relationships that ensure the airline exceeds customer experience expectations.