South African Airways set to restart
After working on a new business plan, funding and receiving its renewed AOC on 12 August 2021, South African Airways is set to restart on 23 September 2021. The airline, which went into bankruptcy protection in December 2019, had been grounded since September last year.
According to its newly issued Air Operators Certificate (AOC), SAA will relaunch with a fleet of eight aircraft. These are:
- A319s ZS-SFJ (2379), ZS-SFK (2418) and ZS-SFL (2438)
- A320s ZS-SZI (6439) and ZS-SZJ (6478)
- A330-300 ZS-SXM (1792)
- A340-600s ZS-SNF (547) and ZS-SNG (557)
Of these, the A340-600s will not be used right from the start but when the airline resumes long-haul flights. Initially, the restarted South African Airways will offer flights out of Cape Town and Johannesburg to Accra, Harare, Kinshasa, Lusaka and Maputo. Later, the airline is set to expand its operations and plans to grow the fleet to 26 aircraft consisting of nineteen narrowbodies and seven widebodies.
Photo by South African Airways.