SAA’s June flight plans denied by business rescue practitioners

South African Airways’ apparent plans to be flying next month have been denied by the company’s business rescue practitioners.

Practioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana have said the statement was not “vetted” by them, and that there was no clarity yet on what would be allowed under Level 3 of the lockdown.

The statement on SAA’s website said that the resumption of flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town was being planned for mid-June.

SAA’s chief commercial officer Philip Saunders said: “Everyone at SAA is looking forward to welcoming and serving our customers once again. Our operational preparedness is underlined by the significant role the airline has played in global repatriations to and from South Africa and by our desire to serve the domestic market.”

The airline said it was committed to restarting further operations on an incremental basis, and will regularly provide updates on progress.

But according to the practitioners, the statement created an “unfair expectation on our relevant stakeholders, including SAA’s customers as well as employees, who are on unpaid absence as a result of the travel ban which led to the halting of the company’s operations and compounded its financial distress”.

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