Both Mango Airlines and SAA said on Sunday that they would continue operating this week, despite the suspension of aircraft maintenance by South African Airways Technical (SAAT), to both airlinesThis weekend, reports suggested that Mango’s flights would be grounded at midnight on Saturday as a result of SAAT technical suspending its services due to non-payment. Mango has been unable to generate sufficient revenue to pay creditors and reportedly owes Lanseria Airport over R18m https://www.travelnews.co.za/article/mango-squeeze
But a Mango spokesperson told Travel News on Sunday that critical discussions between Mango and SAAT were continuing and the airline was “hopeful” of a resolution. “Mango continues to operate as per schedule under these challenging times,” the spokesperson said, adding that customers were urged to check Mango’s website for any changes to their flight status.
Travel News understands that Mango has wet-leased aircraft in order to continue operations in the absence of SAAT’s technical support. The airline would neither confirm nor deny this.
SAA is not currently operating commercial flights, although the airline has charter flights scheduled for this week. Over the weekend, SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali referred to the situation with SAAT as “undesirable”. He told Travel News on Sunday that every effort would be made to avert operational disruptions resulting from the suspension of maintenance by SAAT. “We have a few charter flights planned for this week and we remain optimistic that they will operate,” he said.
