Transafrikaan Airlines

Transafrikaan Airlines (Afrikaans: Transafrikaanse Lugdienste) is a major Capetian airline based on Cape Town, with its head offices located in the downtown area of Cape Town and its main hub at Cape Town International Airport. The airline has scheduled passenger service to 76 destinations on all six inhabited continents, and more than 55 countries. Transafrikaan operates a fleet of primarily wide-body aircraft consisting of the Airbus A330, Boeing 787, Boeing 747, and Airbus A320. Transafrikaan Cargo operates the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747. Its wholly owned subsidary Southern Afrikaan Airlines operates regional flights to Southern and Central African destinations.

The airline was founded on March 18, 1949, by New Duveland immigrant Robert Shaw. At this time, Shaw saw an opportunity for Cape Town to be the center of a long-range airline network, which connected British possessions in North America, Africa, and Australasia. With the introduction of the Boeing 747, Transafrikaan adopted a similar strategy to Pan American World Airways and flourished as a result. During the early 1970s, Transafrikaan briefly became the largest airline in the Cape, against its largest rival KIAS. The airline was an attractive alternative to South African Airways for those living in South Africa, as it was not under the same restrictions due to Apartheid. In the 1990s, the airline diversified its fleet, and with heavy competition, took many of its larger aircraft out of service in favor of smaller, more economical aircraft such as the Boeing 787. Transafrikaan remains the second-largest airline in the Cape, behind KIAS.