PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

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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

PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

NEWS FLASH

Skopje and Ohrid airports reopened yesterday for commercial air traffic for the first time in three and a half months, as a result of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The first aircraft to touch down in the Macedonian capital was a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul carrying 104 passengers, while the first to take off was a Wizz Air service to Skvasta Airport in Sweden. Overall, Skopje handled 28 flights during its first day and welcomed some 1.700 travellers. Over in Ohrid, a Chair Airlines flight from Zurich was the first to arrive with 141 passengers on board. The two airports have introduced a range of safety and hygiene measures to safeguard passengers' health and well-being.

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PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

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