SAA plans to resume operation by Q3 2021
South African Airways aims to restart in July or by mid-August 2021, said its interim chief executive officer, Thomas Kgokolo.
May 21, 2020: South African Airways (SAA) aims to restart in July or by mid-August 2021, said its interim chief executive officer, Thomas Kgokolo.
As per ch-aviation, the carrier will confirm an exact relaunch date pending on the finalisation of labour negotiations with SAA pilots about their severance packages, he added.
The airline exited administration in late April after receiving ZAR 7.8 billion rand ($550 million) from the government.
Effective April 13, Kgokolo took charge as the new interim CEO of SAA by the interim board.
The government is looking towards securing a private equity partnership that will provide long-term sustainability to the airline. Kgokolo confirmed that talks continued, at the government level, with an as-yet-unnamed strategic equity partner. These talks are to be finalised within the month, lawmakers were told last week.
SAA has been in administration since December 2019. It hasn’t flown commercially since South Africa went into Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.