South African to Chicago, a new route in May

Here’s a route that makes a tremendous amount of sense. South African Airways, a new member of the Star Alliance, intends to begin Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Dakar (DKR) – Johannesburg (JNB) service in May 2007.

A long-range A340 will make the trip. The rapier-like craft will be fitted with two classes of service: Premium Business, and Economy. The former comes with 180-degree lie-flat beds.

You don’t have to fly up front to get treated well on this airline. South African serves up amenity kits, free wines and spirits, and on-demand entertainment at every seat in the house.

What makes this route all the more meaningful is that United Airlines is also a key member of Star Alliance, and Chicago O’Hare is its prime hub. United offers connections to and from ORD throughout its worldwide network. That means a flier from, say, Omaha (OMA) can make convenient connections at O’Hare to South African’s new flight.

On the other side of the journey, South African Airways offers connections to more than 20 destinations in South Africa itself, and to more than 20 cities across the continent.

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler