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South African Airways probably incurred a loss for a fifth consecutive year in the past financial period, and would be insolvent without a government-backed guarantee. The state airline’s loss for the year ending March is estimated at 1.8b rand ($124m), and follows a 4.7b loss a year earlier, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said Tuesday. Gordhan approved a further 4.7b rand going-concern guarantee last week that will allow the company to release delayed financial statements on Sept. 15. “If we remove government guarantees and government support, technically SAA would be insolvent,” he said. The cabinet approved a new board for SAA on Aug. 31 to overhaul management of the airline, which hasn’t made an annual profit since 2011 and has had seven permanent or acting CEOs in about four years. The board and chairwoman Dudu Myeni’s role at the company had been a source of conflict between Gordhan and President Jacob Zuma. While Myeni remains in the post for a year, Gordhan has said he was satisfied the board had been strengthened. The board would be expected to set a timeline for a return to profitability and must ensure competent managers are appointed in the coming months, Gordhan said.<br/>

Thai Airways International, which took delivery of its first Airbus A350 XWB Aug. 30, will delay launching the first scheduled service to Melbourne Airport because of additional inspections and requirements from Australian authorities. Thai Airways president Charamporn Jotikasthira said that the A350 XWB approval process “is not able to be completed in time for Thai to operate the maiden flight by Sept. 16. Previously in 2014, the approval of Thai’s first Boeing 787-8 was much shorter. Thai, therefore, needs to delay operating the A350 XWB to Melbourne until the authorities have completed their approval process.” It is expected the approval will be completed in time for the winter schedule, which begins at the end of October. “In the meantime, Thai will operate the A350 between Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket, which will give passengers in Thailand more opportunities to experience the elegance of the Thai A350,” Jotikasthira said. The carrier continues to operate its double daily Bangkok-Melbourne service.<br/>