South African Airways (SAA) on Monday said its flights to all destinations were operating normally, after talks over the weekend on a bailout plan for the state carrier ended with no solution.
Government officials are scrambling to work out how they can provide 2 billion rand (138 million dollars) of funds they promised when SAA entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December 2019.
The airline’s business rescue practitioners held talks with the government at the weekend to try to find a solution on the funding gap.
However, as of Sunday, no solution had been found, a person briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Recently, a senior trade union official said SAA could have to suspend some flights and delay salary payments if the government did not come up with a plan to provide the 2 billion rand soon.
“Flights to all its destinations continue as normal.
“Where there may be flight schedule amendments, such operational changes will be managed and communicated in accordance with the industry norms,” SAA said in a statement.
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On Sunday, the public enterprises’ ministry said it was talking with the National Treasury to raise funds for SAA.
The airline is one of several South African state entities, including power company Eskom, mired in financial crisis after nearly a decade of mismanagement.
State companies’ financial problems are seen as the single greatest threat to South Africa’s economy and have been largely responsible for pushing the country’s credit rating down to the brink of junk status.
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