South African Airways

Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa -- One of the more gripping scenes in the 2009 movie "Invictus" shows a South African Airways jumbo jet buzzing the top of a packed Johannesburg stadium just minutes before the start of the championship match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Inspired by the good-luck message stenciled on the plane's wings, South Africa goes on to win the game in one of the sport's biggest upsets. Cut to credits. It didn't quite happen the way it was depicted, said Laurie Kay, the retired pilot who was at the controls of the 747 that day. But if the airline can get approval from FIFA, soccer's governing body, the stunt may be reprised Friday afternoon when South Africa opens soccer's World Cup against heavily favored Mexico.

THE BEST WAY TO WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA From LAX, Lufthansa and British Airways offer connecting service (change of plane) on Air Namibia; Delta, Virgin America and American offer connecting service on South African Airways. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $1,325, excluding taxes and fees. If you have time to add a day's drive in each direction, start in Cape Town, South Africa. WHEN TO GO Seasons are the reverse of the Northern Hemisphere. Skip the Kalahari summer and rainy season and aim to visit between May and September.

S. Africa Orders 2 Boeing Jets: South African Airways has ordered two 747-400 jets worth $256 million and has taken an option to buy two more similar planes, a spokesman for Boeing Co. said. The deal drew severe criticism from Washington state's congressional delegation and other anti-apartheid activists in Seattle. Barbara Smith, a spokeswoman for Democratic Sen. Brock Adams, said the senator "was violently opposed to the sale." Boeing's last sale to South African Airways was concluded in 1983.

Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa -- One of the more gripping scenes in the 2009 movie "Invictus" shows a South African Airways jumbo jet buzzing the top of a packed Johannesburg stadium just minutes before the start of the championship match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Inspired by the good-luck message stenciled on the plane's wings, South Africa goes on to win the game in one of the sport's biggest upsets. Cut to credits. It didn't quite happen the way it was depicted, said Laurie Kay, the retired pilot who was at the controls of the 747 that day. But if the airline can get approval from FIFA, soccer's governing body, the stunt may be reprised Friday afternoon when South Africa opens soccer's World Cup against heavily favored Mexico.

South African Airways Rebuilding: After five years of anti-apartheid sanctions, South African Airways has returned to the United States, carrying business travelers and tourists. SAA resumed service over the weekend, and business is said to be booming. But so far, no American carrier is ready to offer reciprocal service into South Africa. SAA said that from this Saturday through January, every economy class seat has been taken on the twice-weekly flights.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist rejected South African Airways' request to stay a U.S. order halting its service to the United States. The order, effective today, was issued by the Department of Transportation, implementing anti-apartheid sanctions imposed by Congress last month. South African Airways contended that a bilateral aviation agreement between the two countries requires a one-year notice before termination of operating rights.

Nine anti-apartheid activists seized the New York office of the government-owned South African Airways and barricaded themselves inside for three hours before being arrested by police. No injuries were reported in the incident, and there was no resistance by the four men and five women during the arrests by FBI agents and city police.

A South African Airways jumbo jet with 159 people on board failed to land on schedule at Mauritius early today and its whereabouts was unknown, the South African Press Assn. reported. The news agency quoted Nico Venter, the South African Airways director of public relations, as saying the Boeing 747 carried 140 passengers and 19 crew members. Venter said this morning that the plane was five hours overdue for a scheduled 2:13 a.m.

Two South African television news agencies said Monday that videotapes of an anti-government church service to be used by U.S. and British networks were erased after being transported by South African Airways. Worldwide Television News and Visnews said its crews delivered four videotapes to the state-owned airline's office in George, about 250 miles east of Cape Town, to be flown to Johannesburg.

Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell praised the Century Plaza hotel Tuesday for canceling a trade show sponsored by South African Airways and that country's tourism board. "We have achieved a victory in Los Angeles," Farrell said. "Until the South African government renounces apartheid, it's the appropriate way. We don't want it doing business in our community."

Pam Hearne said she heard a "thunk" outside her home Tuesday morning, but she thought it was the usual morning ruckus caused by neighbors loading stuff onto trucks. When she returned home from work, she glanced into her backyard and saw a severed human leg, naked but for the white Adidas sneaker on its foot. Hearne, a special education teacher, said she was "very scared" when she saw the limb.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's election as president of South Africa, an event that hastened the demise of apartheid and led to the resumption of full-scale tourism to a nation once boycotted by many travelers. Few Americans visit South Africa -- in 2003, fewer than 200,000 made the trip -- even though the country has much to offer.

South African Airways Rebuilding: After five years of anti-apartheid sanctions, South African Airways has returned to the United States, carrying business travelers and tourists. SAA resumed service over the weekend, and business is said to be booming. But so far, no American carrier is ready to offer reciprocal service into South Africa. SAA said that from this Saturday through January, every economy class seat has been taken on the twice-weekly flights.

Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell praised the Century Plaza hotel Tuesday for canceling a trade show sponsored by South African Airways and that country's tourism board. "We have achieved a victory in Los Angeles," Farrell said. "Until the South African government renounces apartheid, it's the appropriate way. We don't want it doing business in our community."

Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell introduced a motion Friday asking his colleagues to condemn the Century Plaza Hotel for allowing a trade show promoting tourism in South Africa to be held there, but stopped short of calling for an all-out boycott of the facility. "I believe this is an affront to us in the community . . . it runs counter to the spirit hundreds of thousands of people showed during the recent visit of Winnie and Nelson Mandela," said Farrell.

Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell will call on his colleagues to condemn the Century Plaza Hotel for allowing South Africa's tourism board and largest airline to hold a trade show there next month and will ask elected officials to stop patronizing the hotel in protest, officials said Thursday. Farrell plans to introduce the motion today, less than three weeks before South African Airways and the South African Tourism Board are scheduled to hold a cocktail reception and trade show Sept.

Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu's son was arrested for the second time in a year for threatening to blow up an airliner, South African officials said. Trevor Tutu, an advertising executive, left the plane briefly during a stopover in South London on a domestic South African Airways flight to Johannesburg. When he prepared to reboard, police said, he refused to pass through a metal detector and was ejected from the plane, which took off.

A New York man became the first American sentenced to prison under a federal law barring citizens from doing business with the government or government-owned enterprises of South Africa. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Costantino sentenced Robert Fessler, 43, formerly president of Air Ground Equipment Sales Inc. in West Babylon, N.Y., to three months in prison, 33 months probation and a $100,000 fine for violating the 1986 Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. Fessler was convicted of conspiring to buy and import four jet engines from South African Airways, the government-owned airline of the white-ruled nation.