South Africa may get new national airline by Jan 2021

August 27, 2020: South Africa’s new national airline could launch in early January 2021, as per a Business Tech report.

It was reported earlier that the South African government has initiated talks with private entities interested in buying into South African Airways (SAA), which needs at least R10 billion to resume operations. Since then it has received “more than 10 unsolicited offers” to partner with the airline.

These interested investors are also exploring potential integrations of SAA and its subsidiaries, including SAA Technical and Mango.

A team from the Department of Public Enterprises and advisors from Rand Merchant Bank began negotiations after receiving four promising proposals regarding SAA, according to Kgathatso Tlhakudi, the Department of Public Enterprises’ (DPE) director general.

Tlhakudi has declined to identify SAA’s suitors.

Ethiopian Airlines Group, Africa’s largest and only consistently profitable carrier, has previously said it also may be interested in investing in SAA.

SAA has been in administration since December and hasn’t flown a commercial passenger flight since March, when South Africa’s borders were closed to help contain the coronavirus.