“SAA is not in talks about selling itself to any other airline right now.”

This was the word from SAA’s acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, regarding recent reports that stated the airline had held discussions with both Air China and HNA Group’s Hainan Airlines “that could see the pair set up new African hubs and even pave the way for the Asian carrier to take a stake in SAA”.

“I accept that the selling of SAA is the most interesting thing we can talk about,” Bezuidenhout said, “but that does not change our business, our operations. What we, as a management team, need to focus on is having an efficient and effective entity that ideally you would not want to sell.”

Bezuidenhout was speaking at a media briefing yesterday, where he provided feedback on the conclusion of SAA’s 90 Day Action Plan. The plan, which concluded on March 24, was a roadmap to stabilise the carrier and resume full implementation of a refined Long-Term Turnaround Strategy, he said.

Within the 90-days, the airline has managed to implement and effect several changes that address some of its major financial issues. Total annualised EBITDA improvement, from the commencement of its new financial year on April 1, would amount to R1,25bn as per the initial target as agreed in November, Bezuidenhout said.

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“South Africans now have a national aviation asset that is well on its way to relative stability,” Bezuidenhout said. “There is no doubt that, while we have achieved significant milestones during the 90-Day period in review, the real task of full implementation of a refined LTTS is at the starting block.”