Israir to launch Ljubljana flights

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

Israir to launch Ljubljana flights

NEWS FLASH

Israir Airlines will commence seasonal flights between Tel Aviv and Ljubljana this summer. According to the “Sierra5” portal the new service comes as a result of an agreement between the airline and the Slovenian Tourist Board following the IMTM International Tourism Conference in Tel Aviv last week. Israir will maintain two weekly flights between Israel’s largest city and the Slovenian capital from late May until October 13, although there will three charter flights operated during Passover, in mid-April. Services will be maintained with the 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. The carrier has been successfully serving other markets in the former Yugoslavia including Montenegro and Serbia for several years. Last month it announced plans to launch operations to Skopje as well. Israir is Israel’s third largest airline behind El Al and Arkia. El Al’s subsidiary Sun d’Or Airlines maintains seasonal flights to Ljubljana. Israir will replace Adria Airways which previously operated on the route as well. Israir becomes Ljubljana Airport’s third new carrier for the 2020 summer season following Iberia and Windrose Airlines. Further flight details for the new Tel Aviv - Ljubljana service can be found here.

Comments

Anonymous11:59
Nice! Seems like the upcoming summer season will be very colorful.
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Anonymous12:16
Damn. When Adria went bust I completly forgot they had Israel in their service in summer season.
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Andrej76712:38
I don't count Windrose a a serious about LJU service
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