UK inks air deal with Montenegro, Kosovo

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

UK inks air deal with Montenegro, Kosovo

NEWS FLASH

The United Kingdom has announced that it has signed bilateral air agreements with both Montenegro and Kosovo that will allow uninterrupted air services after Brexit. "These new arrangements, which have been concluded with nine countries around the world, are proof that the UK will continue to be a major player on the world stage after we leave the EU", UK Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, said. The government noted the deal was to replace the current framework under EU regulation. The UK has also struck agreements with Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Morocco, Switzerland and the United States, but is yet to finalise deals with other countries from the former Yugoslavia. The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 30, 2019.

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Anonymous17:02
How on earth are they going to manage to sign new bilaterals with so many countries in 3 months?
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anonymous!07:34
Brexit won't happen!
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UK inks air deal with Montenegro, Kosovo

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