South African Airways has cancelled a number of flights as its financial worries grow. The news comes as last week SAA listed a number of Airbus A340 aircraft for sale on the South African Government’s procurement website.
Things appear to have gone from bad to worse this week as far as South African Airways is concerned. The airline on Tuesday cancelled 38 flights both domestic and international. The airline said that it was consolidating selected domestic and international services. Affected are flights to Cape Town, Durban, and Munich.
Munich flight cancelled
The biggest action taken by South African Airways is the temporary cancellation of flights to Munich. The cancellation of flights to Munich began yesterday, and are currently set to extend until Friday.
The airline has stated that Munich bound passengers will be rerouted to London and Frankfurt. However, some passengers heading beyond Munich will be rebooked on other partner airlines.
The flights departing Johannesburg have been cancelled from the 20th to the 24th of January. Meanwhile, the return leg has been cancelled from the 21st until the 25th. SAA’s Munich route is scheduled to run to the following schedule: SA264 is set to depart from Johannesburg (JNB) at 21:15. It should arrive in Munich (MUC) at 07:00 on Wednesday January 22nd 2019.
SA265 is set to depart Munich at 20:30 after spending the day on the ground. It should then arrive back in Johannesburg at 08:20.
Domestic consolidation
Some flights to Cape Town have been cancelled according to South African Airlines. The airline has said that this is due to Airbus A350 pilot training. The Airbus A350-900 is currently flying to Cape Town for pilot training, meaning that the airline has excess capacity on the route.
As a result, four rotations between Johannesburg and Cape Town have been cancelled. Two on Tuesday, one on Monday, and one on Friday. Meanwhile, ten rotations have been cancelled to Durban by the airline. This included three flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the airline, passengers are being rebooked on SAA’s sister airline, Mango, where appropriate.
In a statement issued on its website, the airline said: “These decisions are in line with SAA’s usual policy of reviewing flights and consolidating services with low demand. Furthermore, during the current process of Business Rescue, these cancellations represent a responsible strategy to conserve cash and optimize the airline’s position ahead of any further capital investment.”
Interestingly, flights were cancelled on Tuesday. However, the airline also issued a statement stating that “flights to all its destinations continue as normal”.
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