Editing South African Airways (section)

===Expansion: 1974–1983===
[[File:Logo of the Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens (1971–1997).png|thumb|The SAA logo from 1971 to 1997. SAL is an abbreviation of the airlines' former [[Afrikaans]] name, ''Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens''.]]
SAA opened a route to Asia, with [[Boeing 707]] flights to [[Kai Tak International Airport|Hong Kong]] via an intermediate stop at the [[Seychelles Islands]] in June 1974.<ref name=SAAMS/> In 1980, SAA began nonstop flights to [[Chiang Kai Shek International Airport|Taipei]] using a Boeing 747SP; [[Mauritius]] had earlier replaced the Seychelles for the Hong Kong service. South Africa became one of the few countries in the world to [[Foreign relations of Taiwan|recognize]] the government of the [[Republic of China on Taiwan]].

Because some African countries denied SAA the use of their airspace, SAA bypassed the 'bulge' of Africa, usually via [[Amilcar Cabral International Airport|Ilha do Sal]] - a detour of almost {{convert|3000|km}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Johannesburg - Ilha do Sal - Amsterdam |url=http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=jnb-sid-ams&MS=bm&DU=km |access-date=2013-07-24 |website=Great Circle Mapper |archive-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826000556/http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=jnb-sid-ams&MS=bm&DU=km |url-status=live }}</ref> Another bypass was via [[Tel Aviv]], which doubled the distance and flying time involved.<ref>{{Cite book |last=A. J. Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07fQ-2U_73sC&pg=PA174 |title=The Atlas of Changing South Africa |publisher=Routledge Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-21178-9 |page=174}}</ref> European airlines were allowed to fly over Africa when flying to South Africa, usually via [[Jomo Kenyatta International Airport|Nairobi]] and later nonstop.

On 26 December 1980, the last South African Airways Boeing 707 service was operated between Paris and Johannesburg. Its touchdown ended the 20-year career of the 707. The quadjet was replaced by the world's first [[Wide-body aircraft|wide-body]] twinjet, the [[Airbus A300]], which had entered revenue service in 1976.<ref name=SAAMS/> The 727s were eliminated by 1983, replaced by the more economical [[Boeing 737]].<ref name=SAAMS/> When countries withdrew landing rights for SAA, the airline leased its aircraft and crews to Canada, Mauritius, Brazil, Morocco and Luxembourg.