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SAA set for profitability
South African Airways (SAA) has reduced the airline’s costs by more than R600m, the airline’s ceo André Viljoen told Asata (Association of South African Travel Agents) Region 1 and 2 delegates at a meeting in Johannesburg last week.
He said the airline’s financials for 2002 were being audited and would be released at the end of May.
“However, the provisional results show a dramatic improvement. We are very pleased,” he said.
Initially SAA expected to reduce its headline loss from R730m to around R50m but September 11 killed any hope of that. Nevertheless, if costs have been cut so dramatically, then the industry can reasonably expect a headline loss of say between R150m and R200m.
He spoke of a “turnaround” which suggests that, all things being equal, SAA will be in the black in 2003. Although this is Viljoen’s mandate, the private sector in the form of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) still expects SAA to manage the contradictory roles of being a profitable venture for future privatisation and that of “flag carrier”.
As much was stated by Dr Tanya Abrahamse, the executive director of the TBCSA at the Association meeting. She said that a “time frame” should be set for SAA’s return to profitability or privatisation (she did not elaborate which) until it had performed its role boosting tourism volumes to this country. At the same time the TBCSA does not want SAA to be a drag on the economy.
(Mark Gray)
Information supplied by Travel News Now
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