I think its a bad thing, what they will end up doing is turning it from a 'duopoly' to Monopoly.
You can also fly Air Austral from Sydney to Johannesburg via Reunion Islands.
Merely postulating
Without codeshares QF to drop the direct and fly SYD-PER-JNB,
this will hurt SA ex-PER and cause them to drop out altogether.
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Or on the flipside, SA to stay on the PER-JNB route and codeshare with DJ from PER to SYD/MEL/BNE/ADL...
Not such a crazy idea from a DJ perspective - another 'partner' tapping into a continent currently without a partner, as well as services again to JNB. Gives SA an Australian network missing through having no Star partner in Australia, and greater access for their passengers into eastern Australian ports.
I have read different things about SAA business class, although it probably is variable... But as another option out of Perth I was thinking of trying it one time, unless steered away from it...
They seem to have 180 lie flat beds on quite a few of their planes... Seeing Thai only seem to offer recliner seats from what i can see etc (will try in May) it may be comparable or better???