Final bill for SAA rescue still soaring
Slimmed-down airline will incur fees for cancelling contracts
The National Treasury expects to have to pump even more funds into SAA than the nearly R23bn outlined in finance minister Tito Mboweni's budget this week. Aviation analysts said the state carrier could incur at least another R2bn in costs as it restructures as part of a business rescue plan. Business rescue practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana were put in charge of SAA in December and were due to publish their plan for the airline by the end of February. They said on Friday they had been given an extension of one month.In the Budget Review this week the Treasury said it had set aside R16.4bn over the next three financial years to pay off some of SAA's debt and meet debt-servicing costs. An additional allocation of R6.5bn to absorb current losses was also made. The airline has not made a profit since 2011 and has incurred net losses of more than R32bn since financial 2009. "Government anticipates that additional funding will be required to cover restructuring cost...
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