Mango CE denies state parent SAA subsidised cheap plane leases

Mango Airlines leased planes from South African Airways at market-related rates, its CE said, denying a statement by the carrier’s parent that it provided aircraft at a “substantially discounted cost.” “It’s outright, straightforward, not true,” Nico Bezuidenhout said Wednesday. Mango pays market-related lease rates and since 2010 has negotiated new deals directly with leasing companies, he said. SAA said June 11 it sub-leased Mango all 10 of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft at a discounted cost while paying the leasing company the market rate, an arrangement that would potentially have given the budget carrier an advantage in South Africa’s highly competitive market. The statement was part of a response to the resignation of Bezuidenhout, who will become the head of FastJet from Aug 1. <br/>