SAA denies sell-off reports; confident of turnaround

SAA has dismissed local media reports that it plans to sell off parts of its business to raise funds after banks declined to loan the cash-strapped airline more money. Reports in a South African newspaper had suggested the airline’s cargo operations and catering business, Air Chefs, had been earmarked for sale. State-owned SAA has been in financial difficulties for some years and has only survived through several infusions of cash from the government. “It is not true that we have decided to dispose of some of our assets based on the fact that the banks are reluctant to lend more money to SAA,” an airline spokesman said. “We still have guarantees available to us and [have] managed to extend the maturity date of existing loans to end of March 2019. While the time may be limited, the shareholder [the government] still has a window of opportunities to work with us to find solutions to our capital requirements. For assets to be disposed, there are certain legislative requirements which must be dispensed with for shareholder approval to be met. Claims made in the media are unsubstantiated and have ignored the realities and compliance requirements that must be satisfied.”<br/>