Airbus Updates No.2695

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - After having been given yet another cash injection by the South African government, the financially distressed national airline of the country is quietly removing its Airbus A340s from the fleet.

South African Airways returns 19 dry-leased aircraft, including seven Airbus A319-100s, one Airbus A330-200, three Airbus A340-300s, three Airbus A340-600s, and five Airbus A330-200s.

After the return of the dry-leased planes, the state-owned airline will continue its operations with three Airbus A319s, ten Airbus A320s, one Airbus A330-200, five Airbus A330-300s, and four Airbus A350-900s.

The A320s, which the airline is still holding on to, will likely be superfluous going forward because it is expected that domestic and regional operations will be left for its subsidiary Mango, which operates a Boeing fleet.

South African Airways has not made a profit since 2011

It was assumed that the airline would be dissolved and have any remaining assets sold off. Then suddenly the government backtracked and provided financial assistance to keep its flag carrier flying.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the government to provide an extra $1.2 billion to help SAA restart after COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted.