South African Airways (SAA) is planning to re-introduce international routes to its range of available flights, it announced in May.
The airline confirmed it is currently busy working on the finer details of the rollout and that an official response will follow in due course.
The state-owned enterprise has been given the green light for a significant fleet expansion, which is expected to pave the way for the service to relaunch international flights as well as expand its capacity for domestic trips.
Going international
SAA went into voluntary business rescue in December 2019 following several years of financial losses and suspended all operations the following year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
In June 2021, the government announced that it would attempt to revive the state-owned entity, and in August 2021, the South African Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the company’s air operator’s certificate had been re-issued with an approved fleet of eight aircraft.
Operations were then restarted in September 2021, though on a much lower scale, as the airline has been solely providing domestic and regional flights since it came out of business rescue.
Now, the company is planning to procure six new Airbuses as part of an expansion that will see the return of international routes for the first time in roughly three years.
“We are excited, as SAA, to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of our first international route since coming out of business rescue and since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said interim CEO Professor John Lamola.
The plan to lease the six aircraft has been approved by both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Enterprises.
“The aircraft will be delivered before the end of this calendar year, and the planes include a wide-body aircraft as well as five narrow-body aircraft – all of them Airbus equipment,” said Lamola.
The CEO described the move as “competitive, transparent, and cost-effective,” in-line with the approach that the airline has been following since it came out of business rescue.
An A330 and A320 airbus have already been secured, and the company has put out an order for four additional narrow-body A320 units.
All the aircraft will be taken out on a 36-month lease, as stated in the terms of the Request for Proposals (RFP), and the A320s are expected to deploy by September 2023, it said.
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