All South African Airways articles
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NewsGovernment urged to direct SAA rescue funds to vaccine resource
South Africa’s political opposition is urging the country’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, to abandon the R10 billion ($680 million) funding plan to restructure South African Airways and plough the capital into a vaccination programme. The Democratic Alliance has written to Mboweni claiming that the government should “divert” the SAA ...
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News
Airlink loses case to retrieve revenues held by former partner SAA
South African carrier Airlink has failed to convince the country’s Supreme Court of Appeal that it is owed R510 million ($33 million) in ticket funds held by South African Airways. The court has upheld a Gauteng high court decision rejecting Airlink’s claim to the ticket revenues collected by SAA ...
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News
Government defends public funding of SAA rescue plan
South Africa’s government has defended its R10.5 billion ($640 million) funding of South African Airways’ rescue plan, insisting that the financing will help finalise the restructuring and assist the selection of a strategic equity partner. It is dismissing criticism of the plan from the Democratic Alliance, its political opposition, ...
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News
South Africans urged to boycott SAA over government bailout
South African citizens are being urged to boycott flag-carrier South African Airways by an anti-maladministration organisation which focuses on the country’s state-owned enterprises. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has sharply criticised the South African finance ministry’s bailout of SAA in its mid-term budget, after months of uncertainty over the ...
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News
Finance minister castigated as state bails out SAA
South African Airways is to be allocated R10.5 billion ($642 million) to implement its business rescue plan, the country’s finance minister has disclosed in a speech to parliament. Tito Mboweni outlined the funding in a medium-term budget policy statement on 28 October. He said that R10.5 billion would ...
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News
SAA maintenance arm lifts service suspension against house carriers
South African Airways’ maintenance arm, SAA Technical, has started reinstating its services after suspending them to four customers over outstanding payments. It says it has reached an agreement with two of these customers – SAA itself and sister carrier Mango – but is still holding talks with the other ...
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News
SAA suspends operations as rescuers seek to preserve finances
South African Airways has suspended all airline operations while its rescuers assess options to obtain urgent funding for the embattled flag-carrier. While the government has been claiming continuous engagement with potential funding sources, SAA’s rescue practitioners have warned of dwindling reserves, and have been keeping creditors updated over the ...
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Opinion
South Africa’s airline sector can overcome challenges
The country has been hit hard by Covid-19, exacerbating connectivity challenges created by SAA’s retrenchment, but there is hope that the sector will recover, writes Zuks Ramasia, chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa
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News
South African Airways will not be liquidated: government
South Africa’s government is insisting that flag-carrier South African Airways will not be liquidated, and that it will detail measures relating to funding the airline in upcoming legislation. Its department of public enterprises gave the reassurance as creditors met to discuss the airline’s future, after its rescue practitioners warned ...
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News
SAA creditors to meet as critical rescue funds fail to materialise
South African Airways’ rescue practitioners are to call a meeting of creditors to discuss the future of the troubled company after doubts emerged over crucial government funding for the airline’s business plan. The practitioners had warned on 10 September that procuring the funding necessary to support the plan was ...
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News
SAA restructuring team sifts through unsolicited investor approaches
More than 10 unsolicited approaches expressing interest in South African Airways have been received from potential investors and partners. The South African government’s department of public enterprises states that the approaches concern SAA and its subsidiaries Mango Airlines, SAA Technical, and catering arm Air Chefs. “[We have] been ...
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News
Opposition remains highly suspicious over SAA rescue funding
South Africa’s treasury has yet to detail how it intends to fund the rescue plan for South African Airways, as the country’s political opposition warns that it will intervene to prevent any illegitimate attempts to finance the airline’s revival. While finance minister Tito Mboweni appears to have reassured the ...
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News
Government yet to clarify any funding commitment to rescue SAA
South African Airways’ state shareholder, the department of public enterprises, is claiming that the government is committing to funding the newly-agreed rescue plan for the airline, but details on the source of any financial support remain hazy. The department says the government is required to provide the rescue practitioners ...
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News
Creditors approve South African Airways rescue plan
Creditors have today approved a business rescue plan (BRP) for South African Airways.
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News
Government tries to divide SAA pilots as creditor vote looms
South Africa’s government is appealing to individual South African Airways pilots to break from their union’s position and accept voluntary severance packages, as the beleaguered airline faces a critical creditor vote on its proposed rescue. Cockpit union SAAPA has put forward alternative proposals intended to reduce retrenchments and increase ...
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News
SAA pilots seeking ‘unaffordable’ staff retention: government
South African Airways pilots have sought to more than halve the proposed number of employee retrenchments, and instead retain almost 3,100 personnel for the carrier’s relaunch, according to the country’s government. But the proposal has been dismissed by the department of public enterprises, which insists it is “not prepared ...
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News
SAA pilots isolated as other unions gradually back severance scheme
South African Airways unions have largely indicated acceptance of voluntary severance packages as part of the airline’s rescue, after the government warned that workers’ representatives that it cannot improve on the severance offers. Cockpit union SAAPA has not followed other unions’ gradual shift into accepting the proposals, but it ...
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News
SAA rescue remains uncertain as treasury highlights funding pressures
South Africa’s government is urging creditors and unions to support South African Airways’ proposed rescue, warning that the airline’s liquidation is the worse of the options available. But the opposition Democratic Alliance believes the country’s treasury, which is having to cope with funding pressures from the coronavirus crisis, is ...
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News
SAA’s future remains in limbo as unions secure delay to rescue vote
Decisions on the future of South African Airways have been pushed back by nearly three weeks, after three unions secured an adjournment of a crucial creditor meeting, in order to buy time to adjust the business rescue plan. The SAAPA, SACCA and NUMSA unions – representing pilots, cabin crew, ...
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News
Government urges support as SAA rescue faces critical creditor vote
South African Airways’ creditors are set to decide the future of the troubled flag-carrier, more than half a year after it entered a business rescue scheme, with the government urging support for a new business plan. At least 75% support from creditor voting interests, following a meeting due to ...
