Sarajevo Airport registers May decline

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

SAA sold

South Africa agreed to sell a majority stake in the country’s grounded national carrier to a local jet-leasing company and private-equity firm, ridding the government of an entity that has long been a drain on state finances. A consortium comprised of Johannesburg-based Global Airways, which owns recently launched domestic airline Lift, and private-equity firm Harith General Partners will take a 51% shareholding in South African Airways (SAA), Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said. The government will retain a minority stake. The grouping named Takatso will invest as much as 3.5 billion rand ($258 million) over the next three years, Lift co-founder, Gidon Novick, and Harith Chief Executive Officer, Tshepo Mahloele, said in an interview. “Government will have no further financial obligations to the company, outside of the existing liabilities that they will settle”, Novick said. He added, “Route networks we are still working on, and it will be a phased roll-out based on demand re-emerging post Covid”. The sale of SAA comes about six weeks after the airline emerged from lengthy bankruptcy proceedings, having reduced its workforce by almost 80% and cut liabilities to about 2.6 billion rand. The next challenge is to resume international flights, though South Africa remains cut off from much of the world due to pandemic travel restrictions. A longer-term goal is to list the carrier on a stock exchange, Gordhan said. In the meantime, the government will retain special voting rights to ensure the airline remains in the country, among other national priorities. The deal represents a triumph of sorts for Gordhan, who has argued for the revival of SAA with the help of private investors while others were calling for it to be liquidated. While SAA is now “solvent and liquid,” business-rescue practitioners said when handing over the aircraft, subsidiaries including low cost arm Mango and maintenance firm SAA Technical remain under financial strain and are in the process of being recapitalized. The Department of Public Enterprises and the new consortium will together assess the future of the divisions as part of the due diliegence process, Gordhan said.
Source: Bloomberg

Sarajevo Airport registers May decline

NEWS FLASH

Sarajevo Airport has ended its eleven-month growth streak with its figures declining 3.7% in May to 81.026 passengers. The number of aircraft movements stood at 1.090, which is down 5.6%. It should be noted that the holy month of Ramadan began in mid-May this year, which traditionally results in less traffic and passenger movement from the Middle East, which accounts for a notable number of Sarajevo Airport's traffic. Ramadan will conclude on June 14. Last year, the month-long holiday began in late May.

During the January - May period, Bosnia and Herzegovina's busiest airport welcomed 337.145 travellers through its doors, an increase of 10.2%. Aircraft movements grew 6.8% to 4.992. During the first five months of 2018, Sarajevo Airport processed 952.222 kilograms of cargo.

Month	PAX	Change (%)
JAN	54.113	▲ 24.8
FEB	48.986	▲ 19.1
MAR	65.991	▲ 15.0
APR	86.995	▲ 9.0
MAY	81.026	▼ 3.7

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Anonymous12:36
Pity for Sarajevo, seemed on the roll.
Was this first month of decline in many years ?

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Sarajevo Airport registers May decline

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