SAA ‘still a long way from being profitable’: Transport Minister

Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has warned that the national airline, South African Airways (SAA), is still a long way from being a profitable entity.

Creecy also said it’s "unacceptable" that the national carrier has received two consecutive disclaimers from the Auditor General (AG), the worst possible audit outcome.

Creecy and SAA’s top management and board briefed Parliament’s Transport Committee on Tuesday about the airline's annual report for 2024/25 as it continues to struggle financially.

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SAA came out of business rescue five years ago, but it’s still struggling to get back to its days of profitability and having large control of the local market share.

The AG said SAA remains a “going concern with material uncertainties” after achieving yet another audit disclaimer.

SAA made a R150 million profit in the year under review after selling its Heathrow Airport slot, but Creecy said the entity is still far from being profitable.

“While there were some improvements in passenger numbers and in passenger revenue, I think that we’re still a long way from being a profitable entity, which is where we would want to be.”

The AG said that SAA's subsidiary, Air Chefs, improved from a disclaimer to a qualified audit outcome, but overall, other SAA entities remain stagnant.