South African Airways (SAA) will suspend all operations with immediate effect and be placed under ‘care and maintenance’ until discussions between the government and business rescue practitioners are complete, according to reports from News24.
SAA has long been facing a financial crisis, with the state-owned airline entering a local form of bankruptcy protection in December 2019, and that crisis has only worsened with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a notice sent out to all affected parties by administrators, as reported by IOL, ‘The BRPs (administrators) have made a decision to suspend all the airline operations with immediate effect and are pursuing a process to put the airline under care and maintenance until funding discussions are completed.’
BREAKING NEWS: SAA suspends operations as funding falls short 🔒 https://t.co/UGPUBAtFBj
— Business Day (@BDliveSA) September 29, 2020
There is still hope for SAA though, as certain funders are willing to provide a proportion of the funds needed to kickstart the airlines restructuring plan, with negotiations ongoing with the government, according to IOL.
All existing cargo and repatriation flights with take place as scheduled, with no new flight being accepted by airline after that.
Image credit: Twitter/@SAfmRadio
