South African Airways (SAA) has been dealt a blow by the withdrawal of interest from a potential private partner.
However, the airline will not fold. It has the funds to sustain operations.
South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan met with SAA’s employees at the airline’s headquarters, Airways Park, to assure them that the airline would not collapse.Â
On Monday, Gordhan told around 2,000 staff members that he was confident the airline’s management would steer the company to greater heights and that staff must pull together to ensure the carrier’s continued growth and development.
According to EWN, Gordhan said the airline was already looking for ways to raise money to fund its route expansion plans.
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SAA PRIVATE INVESTOR PULLS OUT
The minister said that SAA’s executive team is working on ways to raise capital following last week’s announcement that the deal with private partner Takatso Consortium had failed.
When South African Airways emerged from business rescue in 2021, it was said that a private partner would be found, who would take 51% shareholding in the national airline.
After three years of negotiations, the arrangement has failed, with Takatso pulling out last week.
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS ROUTE DEVELOPMENT
The airline restarted operations in late 2021, resuming flights on just a handful of routes.
Now almost three years later, South African Airways has reestablished itself on a number of routes.
On the domestic front, SAA operates flights between the country’s larger urban centres: Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
The carrier offers flights to several regional destinations including Accra, Abidjan, Lagos, Kinshasa, Windhoek, Harare, Victoria Falls, Lusaka and Mauritius.
The airline also flies to South America. It operates flights from both Johannesburg and Cape Town to Sao Paolo in Brazil.
SAA ADJUSTS PERTH SCHEDULE
The withdrawal of the private investor has not impacted the imminent relaunch of the Perth route.
Next month South African Airways will relaunch flights to Perth in Australia.
The airline has just adjusted the scheduled times for its flights from Perth to Johannesburg.
The change was made to allow passengers to benefit from an overnight flight for better rest as well as easier domestic and regional connections.
