South African Airways set for fleet and route expansion

South African Airways has been given the green light to acquire additional aircraft which will enable it to grow its route network.

By: Lorne Philpot

Things appear to be going well for South Africa’s national airline. The carrier is set for expansion of its route network in the coming months and has been given the go-ahead to source extra aircraft which it will need to do this.

The aviation sector is making a strong comeback with healthy recovery being seen across the globe, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA), which regulates international aviation all over the world.

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NEW APPOINTMENT AT SAA

Last month former Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom was appointed the new interim chairperson of South African Airways (SAA). Previous interim chair John Lamola has remained as the airline’s interim CEO and director.

This new appointment is viewed to be beneficial to the airline since Hanekom has a wealth of knowledge and experience from serving in the tourism sector.

“Hanekom’s experience in fostering collaboration between government and private sectors will be invaluable in guiding SAA through its restructuring and revitalisation,” the Department of Public Enterprises said, per News24.

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GREEN LIGHT FOR EXPANSION

According to IOL, SAA’s Interim CEO, Professor John Lamola, says that South African Airways’ plan to lease six new aircraft has been approved by 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,” Lamola said per IOL.

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SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS FLEET

South African Airways currently has a fleet consisting of 5 narrow body Airbus A320 models and one Airbus A330 aircraft. These aircraft are on operating lease agreements.

IOL states that these operating lease agreements will expire over the period starting February 2025 and 2026.

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SAA’S OPERATIONS

The airline restarted operations in September 2021 after a lengthy business rescue process. Initially, SAA relaunched flights with a slimmed-down flight schedule, serving destinations in Africa as well as Cape Town.

The company has slowly and cautiously been adding more destinations to its route network. It has relaunched flights to Durban but still does not fly to destinations beyond the African continent.  

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The expansion of the SAA fleet should enable it to relaunch international routes as well as increase its seat capacity for regional and domestic destinations.

The recovery of South Africa’s tourism sector is being throttled by the absence of a national carrier. Last year, the collapse of Comair which operated British Airways flights in SA, as well as the popular low-cost Kulula.com brand removed almost 40% of the country’s domestic air capacity.