As preparations to relaunch its flight operations gain momentum, South African Airways has been granted a renewed Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).
SACAA is the regulatory body which oversees civil aviation, maintains safety standards and governs investigations of aviation accidents and incidents in the country.
The new AOC will cover Airbus A320 and A340 aircraft types, bringing the active fleet to a total of eight aircraft.
Confirming in a statement that its AOC has been re-issued, SAA pointed out that it was not sure yet about the exact aircraft it will be operating as part of its approval.
According to a SACAA spokesperson, only eight aircraft are currently listed on SAA’s AOC operating specifications.
In the statement, SAA interim chief executive Thomas Kgokolo said the development was of paramount importance as he explained that there were some hurdles contributing to the announcement of the take -off date delay.
Kgokolo said he was optimistic that the challenges will be urgently worked on to ensure that the carrier starts its operations.
“This is an important development as SAA readies itself to take to the skies again in just a few weeks. At our Airways Park headquarters, in hangars, and at terminals around the country, our staff are hard at work in finishing the final preparatory phases before we make an official announcement about the exact take-off date“.
“While I acknowledge there is frustration over a delay in confirming this date, all of us at SAA need to make sure vital components in a very complicated and multi-faceted process are working seamlessly before we start. I’m confident that we will be able to make that announcement soon.”
He added that,” As SAA accelerates its readiness, all management and specialist pilots have now been appointed and that the pilots who would form the core of the flight crew had been identified and would be brought on board in the next two weeks.”
The acting CEO hinted a week back that SAA will be looking to prioritize cargo operations as a part of its model early on and its fleet composition will support those ambitions
According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, SAA still owns a total of 11 aircraft including three A340-300s and four A340-600s, while it still has three A319-100s on lease from Castlelake and one A330-300 on lease from Aergo Capital.
The airline’s business rescue plan foresees a mid to long-term fleet of 26 aircraft, comprising 10 “small narrow bodies” (presumably regional jets which SAA has never had), nine narrow-bodies and seven wide-bodies.
By Joyce Mukucha
