Yesterday was the deadline for SAA to pay pre-delivery payments to Airbus, given an agreement which SAA Chairman Dudu Myeni and her Board had approved just a month ago. It was the agreement which Former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene had disallowed, in part costing him his job, and now has been rubber-stamped by new Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan!
According to the statement issued by Minister Gordhan, the purchase of ten Airbus aircraft will be swapped with the lease of five aircraft instead, saving our country an enormous amount of over R 1 billion. The National Treasury’s statement reads as follows:
The tough action by Minister Gordhan is a good sign for South Africans, who have been traumatized by President Zuma’s reckless firing of two finance ministers in rapid succession last week, with its disastorous effect on our country’s economy! We too questioned if it was still safe to fly with SAA, and we hope that this is a small step towards improved confidence into our country’s national airline!
Source: Fin24.com
Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage Facebook: click here
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With all of its financial problems, SAA needs to be very careful. EASA is looking very closely at the safety implications of SAA’s financial woes, Exclusion from European airports isn’t out of the question
Interesting Nick.
We have not seen this reported locally.