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South African Airways Returns its Operations in Kenya After 2-Year Break

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

South African Airways (SAA) has resumed its operations in Kenya after shutting down for the last two years.

The South-African national carrier has opened a new booking office in Yaya Center, Nairobi, to provide flight bookings between the two countries.

SAA closed down its operation due to financial challenges that were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic that saw airlines grounded.

“South African Airways is just reopening its offices in Nairobi after two-years closure. We had closed down because of Covid and the company was undergoing some restructuring,”

“So, this is a new office to serve our customers within Kenya and of course greater East Africa but basically to just show the travelling that the South African Airways is back,” SAA East Africa Regional Manager and Middle East Austin Nyawara told Capital Business.

ALSO READ: Wealthy households and firms lost Sh145bn in Tax benefit in Kenya

This comes after SAA and KQ in July 2022, signed a codeshare agreement on flights between Kenya and South Africa to increase scope.

Under the deal, the two airlines will be able to sell ticket jointly, allowing customers to use KQ and SAA ticket in both airlines. SAA will also be able to enjoy KQ flight destinations to Mombasa, Kisumu, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, among others.

“Customers can buy tickets from here, they can do their reservations here, they can also make inquiries about travel packages to South Africa, Mauritius and beyond,” added Nyawara.

SOURCE: Capital business

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AfricaAviationBusinessBusiness InsightsGlobal NewsNewsSouth AfricaSouthern AfricaSpotlightTransportation & LogisiticsTravel & Tourism

South African Airways slides to a new low in global airlines rankings

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

South African Airways (SAA) continues to slide down the ranks of the world’s best airlines, dropping for the fourth consecutive year to its worst place on record. Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines continues to soar in Africa and abroad.

South Africa’s flag carrier has had a tumultuous past few years. From fierce financial losses, which forced it into business rescue, to the pandemic that crippled the global aviation sector, SAA’s road to renewal has been fraught.

And although the airline has re-emerged as a much leaner carrier, its future, seemingly dependent on a strategic equity partnership deal with the Takatso Consortium, remains uncertain.

SAA’s financial and operational challenges have been reflected in the airline’s slide down the Skytrax World’s Top 100 Airlines chart. Revealed at the 2022 World Airline Awards, held in London on Friday, the latest survey results show SAA sliding to 79 on the list of top 100 airlines, dropping 12 places for the year.

Skytrax, which has been keeping tabs on international airlines since 1999, relied on more than 13 million eligible survey entries for its 2022 World Airline Awards. These passengers were asked to rank their satisfaction levels for aspects of the travel experience across both the airport and onboard environments.

The airline’s decline in the global standings predates the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, SAA ranked 46, and in 2018, 45, maintaining its position at roughly the half-way mark for consecutive years.

Over the past decade of Skytrax awards, SAA’s position peaked at 21 in 2013. At the time, South Africa’s national carrier was rated better than British Airways, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France. SAA’s drop to 79 on the international rankings puts it at its worst spot since Skytrax started measuring airlines two decades ago.

Elsewhere on the African continent, there is one airline which has seen a meteoric rise in the rankings coinciding with SAA’s fall.

A decade ago, Ethiopian Airlines wasn’t even listed among the world’s top carriers, coming in at 114. But where SAA’s position has slipped over the last four years, Ethiopian Airlines’ has climbed. In the latest Skytrax rankings, Ethiopian Airlines improved to 26th place in the global standings.

It’s not just in the global standings where Ethiopian Airlines continues to outperform SAA.

SAA held onto its top spot as the best airline in Africa for 14 consecutive years, up until 2017, when it was overtaken by the continent’s largest and most profitable carrier, Ethiopian. South Africa’s flag carrier came second to Ethiopian Airlines for three consecutive years and, in 2022, for the first time on record, fell to third place on the continent, overtaken by Morocco’s national carrier, Royal Air Maroc.

ALSO READ: Nigeria Air: FG announces Ethiopian Airlines as preferred bidder

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines held onto its title of the “Best Airline in Africa” for a fifth consecutive year. The carrier was voted as the continent’s best business class and economy class airline for the fourth year in a row while also picking up the top spot for “Best Business Class Onboard Catering in Africa”.

“We are truly honoured by the multiple prestigious awards that Ethiopian won today,” said Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew in a statement on Friday.

“It gives me great pleasure to witness such a rewarding event to the hard work Ethiopian Airlines employees and management team put in order to provide our valued passengers the best quality service”.

Source: Business insider

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BusinessSouthern AfricaTransportation & Logisitics

SAA appoints new acting chief commercial officer

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

SAA, South African Airways acting chief commercial officer (CCO) has decided to call it quits, and is not renewing his contract.

Tebogo Tsimane will take over the position from Simon Newton-Smith, SAA confirmed on Thursday afternoon.

Newton-Smith will leave the airline at the end of August. 

According to SAA, Tsimane, “has several years of experience in senior roles within the commercial and operational environment at SAA”.

In the view of SAA’s interim chair and CEO, Professor John Lamola, Tsimane has “an exceptional understanding of the complexities of the new aviation operating environment and knows exactly what SAA needs to do to remain successful and profitable”.

At the same time, Lamola lauded Newton-Smith for the much needed stability he brought to SAA’s commercial operation during his year as acting CCO.

Newton-Smith said:

My job was to support the team in restarting SAA, rebuilding market confidence and ensure that our passenger and cargo loads were maximised during a tough operating environment. I am very proud of what the commercial team and our colleagues right across the business have achieved since our September 2021 restart

“After a year leading the team and with the foundation set for the next chapter in SAA’s rebuild, now is the right time for me to hand the reigns to Tebogo,” he said in a statement.

SAA is still awaiting final approval of a strategic equity partnership deal with the Takatso Consortium – announced already more than a year ago. Takatso is expected to provide much-needed capital for the airline’s continued operations – to the tune of R3 billion over a period of three years.

Takatso has made a merger application to the Competition Commission to approve the deal on an urgent basis. The application comes as critics continue to question what they regard as a lack of transparency surrounding the specifics of the deal.

What is known is that Takatso will acquire 51% of SAA’s shares and would need to put in about R3 billion in working capital into the airline over a period of two years.

ALSO READ: South Africa’s Air services Council cancels licenses and related route rights allocated to SA express

Fin24 recently reported that the SA government and SAA are being sued by Toto Investment Holdings, which wants the sale of a majority stake to Takatso scrapped and the process re-run. Toto points to a lack of transparency of the process. 

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has, however, told Parliament in the past that details not provided will protect SAA’s competitiveness.

Source: News 24

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BusinessINVESTMENTSouthern Africa

Investment firm sues South Africa’s Govt over SAA deal

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

South Africa’s government and national airline are being sued by a little-known investment firm, which wants the sale of a majority stake in the carrier scrapped and re-run due to a lack of transparency.

This year’s acquisition of 51% of South African Airways by the Takatso Consortium — made up of a local jet-leasing company and a private-equity firm — for just R51 was “unlawful and constitutionally invalid,” according to documents filed at the High Court in Cape Town by Toto Investment Holdings Pty Ltd.

The transaction was “shrouded in secrecy” and “not fair, equitable, competitive or cost effective,” according to the filing by Toto founder Bongani Gigaba, who says his firm was unfairly excluded from the deal. “Toto was a direct victim of the unlawful and secretive process.”

The filing is the first legal action against the sale, which has drawn criticism from the National Treasury, opposition parties and media in part due to the lack of proceeds for the taxpayer. Yet the airline had been a drain on government finances for a decade, receiving numerous state bailouts before entering bankruptcy proceedings in 2019. 

After a substantial reorganisation that saw staff numbers cut by almost 80%, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan initiated a sale process that eventually led to the agreement with Takatso, made up of Global Airways, which owns domestic airline Lift, and private-equity firm Harith General Partners. 

ALSO READ: South Africa reports first case of monkeypox

SAA then resumed flying to nine domestic and international destinations with a fleet of six Airbus SE jets. 

The Department of Public Enterprises is studying the court papers and will oppose the application, a spokesperson said. SAA and Takatso referred questions to the DPE. The National Treasury declined to comment.

Corruption, fraud 

SAA was one of the key subjects of a lengthy South African judicial inquiry into state corruption under the presidency of Jacob Zuma, who was ousted by Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018. Under Chairwoman Dudu Myeni — the head of Zuma’s foundation — the airline regressed into an “entity racked by corruption and fraud,” according to findings released late Wednesday. Myeni and Zuma deny wrongdoing. 

Toto, in which Gigaba is the sole shareholder, filed an expression of interest in SAA that was rejected within days, according to the documents. The government frequently said it had several interested buyers in the months leading up to the announcement of the Takatso sale, but has never identified them.

Toto is part of a consortium that controls a 24% stake in Richards Bay Minerals, majority owned by mining giant Rio Tinto Plc. The investment is worth as much as 15 billion rand ($938 million), Toto said in the court documents. 

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airport
Hospitality, Travel & TourismSouthern AfricaSpotlight

New acting CEO for Airports Company

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

The Board of Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) announced on Thursday that it has appointed Fundi Sithebe as acting CEO while the process to recruit and appoint a permanent CEO is underway.

Sithebe has previously consulted at companies such as Deloitte and First Rand Africa and specialises in strategy formulation, research and analysis, project management and due diligence reviews.

Sithebe takes over from Bongiwe Mbomvu, who has been acting CEO since December 2018. The decision is in line ACSA’s policy which limits acting appointments to a minimum of six months and a maximum of twelve months.

According to ACSA, Mbomvu ensured “continued stability of the business and seamless integration between the company’s management and the accounting authority”.

Sithebe joined ACSA in March 2015 as chief of staff and was subsequently appointed to the role of the chief operating officer in December 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Midrand University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (Business Administration) from Wits Business School. She obtained her private pilot’s license (PPL) from the Lanseria Flight Centre.

Fin24 reported in September that ACSA’s profits fell by 58% in the year to end-March, due in part to a 50% rise in security costs.

ACSA said security costs rose due to regulatory requirements and heightened security measures implemented during the year. Furthermore, the weak South African economy affected passenger numbers and viability of some local airlines, thereby impacting revenue from commercial activities.

ACSA’s revenue rose by almost 6% to R7.1bn and ACSA reduced its debt by R2.3bn to R6.6bn. More than R10.5bn had now been repaid over the past six years.

Fin24 also reported in April this year Sithebe as saying that ACSA needs a good balance between what it expects from airlines and what airlines expect from it.

In her view, ACSA’s network has a good mix of large airports like OR Tambo in Johannesburg, as well as Cape Town International Airport and regional airports – working like “hubs and spokes”.

For this reason, ACSA believes it must expand airport infrastructure in the country, but this must be done in the most cost-effective way.

This news was culled from Fin24

Click here to read more.

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