Long haul ahead for South African Airways after funding lifeline
JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways finally secured the funding it needs to keep flying for at least a few more months, yet there’s still a long way to go before the state carrier can claim to be stable.
The loss-making airline was put into a local form of bankruptcy protection late last year and its administrators have little more than a month left to come up with a workable plan to turn it around. They’ve said securing an equity partner for SAA is at the heart of their rescue strategy — an option that’s been talked about for years but never materialized and is unlikely to do so soon.
SAA probably has enough cash to keep operating for as long as eight months after the Development Bank of Southern Africa stepped in with a 3.5 billion rand ($240 million) injection, according to Joachim Vermooten, an independent aviation consultant. The carrier is running at a loss of about 500 million rand a month and the situation may deteriorate as it scraps flights and reduces ticket prices to attract wary customers, he said.
Source: iol.co.za
