South African Airways, the national airline, has had a quite erratic flight path since resuming operations in September.
The airline underwent a protracted business rescue process that resulted in significant fleet and route reductions. Since that time, South African Airways has made an effort to operate its 52 remaining international routes as effectively as possible.
Sadly, the African carrier’s efforts were insufficient. South African Airways’ international network is being further reduced despite already being at a size that is less than ideal for a national carrier due to the loss of its rights to at least 20 unflew routes.
The International Air Services Licensing Council has revoked 20 of South African Airways’ 52 international licences due to the airline’s inability to provide adequate capacity or demonstrate that it would eventually provide adequate service capacity.
As the council observed that these routes hadn’t been serviced in more than three months, the revoking procedure was carried out without discussions.
Particularly, since South African Airways was grounded for business rescue in March 2020, the cancelled international routes have not been serviced.
The national carrier had more than 40 aircraft spread across its fleet before undergoing a business rescue.
However, as was already mentioned, the airline was drastically reduced when it first began operating, with fewer than 10 planes, mostly narrowbodies and only a few widebodies.
Only South African and pan-African routes could be actively served by the airline due to its small fleet.
Additionally, South African Airways was unable to service its extensive international network so quickly due to its inability to expand its fleet given the state of the African aviation industry.
The lack of seats on international routes is now more severe after 20 routes lost their licences, which comes at the wrong time as traveller demand is on the rise.
As opportunities and demand grow, several African airlines are stepping up their competitiveness as they make overtures to resume service on the international routes that have been cut.
However, since the International Air Services Licensing Council has not been properly reconstituted in light of the pandemic, filling the gap may take some time.
African airline rivals have a very slim chance of entering the international market given the current state of the continent’s aviation sector, which is largely untapped due to mismanagement and corruption.
However, South African Airways, the country’s flag carrier, is optimistic that it will eventually win back its licence and reclaim its former glories.
The airline would need a sizable amount of funding, though, to increase its fleet size and add more flight operations.
The Takatso Consortium, a company named as an investor in South African Airways following its business rescue last year, was supposed to provide the funding to help the airline stay off of public assistance by purchasing a 51% stake for 51 Rand ($3.16).
Regulatory hurdles must still be cleared by the company, which is expected to be finished by the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023, so the financial agreement has not yet been finalised. According to the Department of Public, Enterprises said; ‘’they have the funds, and they want this completed as soon as possible.
Money will not move in any transaction until it is approved. After clearing the necessary legal and regulatory hurdles, the ownership will change. After that, we anticipate financial flow into the airline.”
South African Airways is still at a crossroads because it appears to be a waiting game for the necessary funding.
The national carrier undoubtedly lost some of its appeal to prospective investors or partners because of its small fleet and even smaller international network as a result of the new cuts. South African Airways’ status as the national carrier is being further eroded by its much smaller global route network.
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