SAA set to soar

South Africa’s state airline is being approached by banks keen to discuss lending the carrier money, aided by a turnaround in the company’s finances, interim CEO John Lamola said.

South African Airways needs to finance a growth strategy that envisages its fleet more than doubling to 43 planes over the next five years.

The company is constrained from seeking funds from the government, which is limiting bailouts to state-owned enterprises as it focuses on stabilizing the nation’s debt.

Talks with lenders on raising capital are expected to conclude by March, Lamola said in an interview in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, on Wednesday.

Last week, the carrier reported a profit of R252 million, which was the first time it’s been in the black since 2012. Because of the airline’s improved financial position and future plans, lenders have been approaching the company, Lamola said.

“We’re talking to banks, and the quantum is still being worked out,” he said. “What is interesting is the banks are approaching us. We are not necessarily running after them,” he said, without identifying the lenders.

Founded in 1934, South African Airways relied on taxpayers for years until it went bankrupt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The carrier emerged from business rescue — a form of bankruptcy protection — in 2021 before embarking on a bid to sell a 51% stake to private investors — a plan that was abandoned in March because of differences over how the transaction would be structured.

Lamola said the company will use the cash it raises to expedite the expansion of its routes. In July, he said the airline plans to add nine destinations to its existing 14, including more connections on the continent from its hub in Johannesburg.

The cash will “enable us to just deepen our strategy and to make it sweeter in the sense that it puts us into a different position to expand our routes,” Lamola said.

It envisages flights to London by December 2025, in addition to flights to the US, Germany and China, among others, he said.

Oxford Economics, a research consultancy, estimates that the carrier contributed R9.1 billion to South Africa’s economy in the 2023-24 financial year.

That amount may more than triple to 32.6 billion rand by 2030 if the company completes its expansion plan, Oxford said in a report released on Wednesday.