There would be price reductions of on average US15 (about R125,94) per segment, the equivalent of around R249 a round trip, on flights between Johannesburg and several African destinations, SAA said on Sunday.

Total long-haul return ticket costs would be cut by US7 (about R58,78) a segment, or R116 a round trip.

Douala in Cameroon, Cotonou in Benin, Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo, Libreville (Gabon), Bujumbura (Burundi), and Kigali (Rwanda) were the African destinations benefiting from the steepest price cuts.

"We are able to offer the deepest cuts on these African routes because the price of jet fuel in these cities is generally higher than the international average," said SAA CEO Siza Mzimela.

"As a result, although fuel prices remain higher than elsewhere internationally, when oil prices drop, the reduction results in a larger actual saving to our passengers".

The decreases more than compensated for the European Union's carbon emissions tax of between one and two euros a passenger (about R10,34 and R20,68 respectively) which SAA would implement next month.

SAA passengers started benefiting from the fuel levy reductions last week.

"Within the overall context of our growth and optimisation strategy for SAA, we will continue to manage our fuel and other costs to the maximum benefit of our passengers and the economy," said Mzimela.