South Africa has reopened its borders to international leisure passengers for the first time since March when the COVID-19 pandemic fully impacted worldwide aviation. A Lufthansa 747 from Frankfurt was the first aircraft to land at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International airport (JNB) on Thursday morning. Though foreign aircraft carrying out repatriation flights of citizens and residents have landed in South Africa since the March lockdown, LH572 was the first commercially scheduled international service to land in the country in nearly…
The South African government has agreed to finance the restructuring of South African Airways (SAA) as indicated in a copy of a draft plan shown on Monday. The draft plan involves a government agreement to spend R21 billion ($1.2 billion) to restructure SAA. According to the draft plan, a working…
In a briefing on Wednesday to the Parliament for the South Africa Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), acting Director-General Kgathatso Tlhakudi presented the department’s budget plan for state-owned South African Airways (SAA) and SA Express airlines. South Africa’s government is being asked to set aside R3.8 billion ($212 million) for…
The immediate liquidation threat of South African Airways (SAA) may be averted for now as announced by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on Saturday. The new deadline for the proposed employment agreement has also been extended to May 1, 2020. DPE also acknowledged an agreement was reached in a…
Spain’s national airline, Iberia, has announced it will be canceling its route between Madrid and Johannesburg as of Sept. 1, 2019. The airline cited poor profits in its decision to end the three-year-old route. This is the second time that the airline has ended the route, previously ending it in…
South African Airways has been going through a long-standing period of loss-making due to a large number of factors including a bureaucratic company structure with allegations of corruption. In 2017 Vuyani Janara was appointed as the CEO, promising to change the way the company operates with a goal of profitability.…
LATAM Airlines will begin to operate two additional frequencies on its São Paulo-Johannesburg route, which will allow for a daily flight between both cities. Currently, the route is only operated five times per week from São Paulo's Guarulhos Airport. Although the frequency increase is scheduled for April 5, 2019, it is…
The South African commercial aviation sector took another hit this week with the announcement Friday that all South African (SA) Express flights were to be grounded immediately due to maintenance concerns. Following the announcement, news agency Fin24 reported that South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) was behind the grounding of…
South African Airways (SAA) is facing an uncertain future after reporting its seventh straight loss for the latest fiscal year 2017-18. The 5.7 billion rand (445 million dollars) loss, a figure more than double that expected, is the largest since the airline reported a 6.1 billion rand (476 million dollars) loss…
The South African government has promised another sizeable cash injection to its ailing national carrier to assist with "urgent financial obligations," it was announced on Thursday. The latest 5 billion rand ($400 million) boost will mean that the airline has received over $2 billion in government subsidies in recent years. South African…
