Court halts implementation of Mango airline's business rescue plan

THE PROCESS of reviving state-owned low-cost airline Mango appears to have been stopped after the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, declared that its business rescue plan cannot be implemented.

- LOYISO SIDIMBA

Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS) hauled Mango and its business rescue practitioner, Sipho Sono, to court over the plan to save the subsidiary of South African Airways (SAA).

ACS, which provided security-related services such as baggage and cargo screening services, baggage reconciliation and check-in services, was among dozens of creditors who were collectively owed about R2.91 billion by Mango before it was placed under business rescue in July 2021.

At the time it was placed under business rescue, Mango did not own any material assets, as its most significant assets were leased.

In September 2021, a couple of months after being placed under business rescue, the only asset on Mango's balance sheet was a spare engine bought by SAA for US$9.6m with the lowest indicative offer received being around US$2m (R30 million then).