'SAA is flying high'

Despite optimism, doubts about its survival without state bailouts.

- Eric Naki

With state bailouts and dried up a private share partner, Takatso's deal that failed many moons ago, will South African Airways' innovations help it raise its head above the profitability waters? Perhaps what needs to be asked is how it has managed to survive so far without state bailouts, while increasing profitability at other levels.

According to the national carrier, its operations and service delivery to customers has come in handy to allow it to achieve this.

At the same time, the past three years have seen it positioned to embrace its national developmental mandate of stimulating tourism, trade and the driving of transformation in the aviation sector SAA board chair Derek Hanekom said since the airline introduced the direct Cape Town to Sao Paulo and Johannesburg to Sao Paulo flights last October, visitor traffic had shot up three-fold.

The expansion into Africa is still a priority while overseas expansion has slowed down.

SAA's African dream boosted after Johannesburg to Accra, Ghana, traffic also increased three-fold between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year.