South African Airways (SAA) has been conferred the Top African Airline Award at the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market, which held at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, from September 13 – 15, 2026.
The distinction, determined through a keenly contested ballot involving travel trade practitioners and the general public, positioned the carrier prominently among the Top 100 Travel Icons in Nigeria recognized for excellence in travel.
The announcement was made by Mr. Ikechi Uko, Publisher of African Travel Quarterly and Founder of Akwaaba Travel Market. The award presentation was done by Mrs. Ida Jeng Njie, Director-General of the Gambia Tourism Board and Mr. Yinka Folami, President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA). The honour was bestowed in acknowledgement of the airline’s sustained consistency and superior performance in customer service delivery and premium product offering.
The accolade underscores SAA’s strategic market infiltration and sustained stakeholder impact, particularly on its clientele, trade partners, Nigerian youth demographics and the broader public through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) portfolio.
Central to the carrier’s trade engagement model is the continuous capacity building of its travel agency network through recurrent familiarization trips (FAM trips) to select business and leisure destinations, complemented by product knowledge workshops.
At Akwaaba 2026, the airline advanced this model by integrating a collaborative B2B and B2C exposure framework, sponsoring four (4) of its trade partners as co-exhibitors at its pavilion. This co-location strategy, described as the first of its kind to be deployed by a carrier within the market, is structured to deepen commercial synergy and foster a mutually advantageous partnership ecosystem.
The beneficiary agencies were Fare Deal Travel & Tours, Vacation Places Limited, 3Cords Leisure & Vacation, and OCI Travel & Tours. The four (4) partners were sponsored on a destination immersion FAM trip to Mauritius, encompassing on-site inspection of hotel inventory and key touristic attractions.
Providing feedback on the initiative, Miss Oluwayemisi Kpote, Travel Consultant at 3Cords Travels, stated: “SAA did a wonderful job. The facilitation was seamless and we want to do more group tours with SAA to bring more people to explore Mauritius”, she said.
Mrs. Olubusola Afolabi, Head of Operations at OCI Travels & Tours, observed that the FAM trip enabled partners selling the Mauritius product to acquire firsthand destination experience, noting, “The experience has improved our sales to that destination.” She added that the exposure now allows for real-time, experience-based client advisory.
According to Mr. Sonny Egbane, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of 3Cords, “This is a step in the right direction. The synergy of working together is a good initiative and the airline’s service delivery is satisfactory.”
Miss Divine Bestman, Ticketing Officer at Fare Deal Travels, remarked: “This is an eye opener. We can advise clients better now and the response time of the people is very good”, she noted.
Beyond trade development, the SAA’s CSR footprint includes the South African Airways Essay Competition (SAAEC), inaugurated in 2017 to engage secondary school students, and the South African Airways Aviation Youth Forum, designed to highlight career pathways within the aviation value chain and stimulate youth interest in the sector.
As a full-service network carrier, SAA continues to optimize its operational processes and adapt to evolving market dynamics to enhance service delivery. The airline currently provides expanded connectivity options to intra-African and intercontinental destinations, including Mauritius, São Paulo in South America, and Perth in Australia.
With 92 years of operations and a record as Africa’s most awarded Skytrax airline, SAA remains positioned to sustain service excellence within the continental aviation landscape.
