SAA to use Turkish planes for summer

• ‘Damp lease’ agreement with SunExpress to be used during peak summer season

SAA has entered into a “damp lease” agreement with Turkish airline SunExpress to be used during the peak summer period. SAA will operate scheduled flights using two SunExpress aircraft for a six-month period.

SAA has entered into a “damp lease” agreement with Turkish airline SunExpress to be used during the peak summer period.

SunExpress is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. In terms of the agreement, SAA will operate scheduled flights using two SunExpress aircraft for a six-month period, starting mid-October. The first of the two B737-800 aircraft arrived last week.

The lease covers the provision of aircraft, maintenance and cockpit crew, while SAA staff will serve as cabin crew. SunExpress has contracted SAA Technical (SAAT) to do the maintenance.

“Overall, wet leases provide a turnkey solution where the lessor supplies the aircraft and crew, while in dry leases the lessee assumes more responsibility and control over the leased aircraft’s operations,” SAA said.

“At SAA we have negotiated

WE ARE PLEASED ... AS WE BOTH MANAGE THE SEASONALITY OF PASSENGER TRAFFIC IN OUR RESPECTIVE GEOGRAPHIC MARKETS

an innovative option that works best for the airline, and we have damp leased — which is defined as a leased aircraft that includes cockpit crew but not cabin crew, and SAA will use SAA Technical to provide MRO [maintenance, repair and operations] services during the leased period,” the airline said.

The leased aircraft is funded by SAA’s operational costs and not by the department of public enterprises, according to SAA.

The airline confirmed it has been given SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) approval for three aircraft.

According to SAA CEO John Lamola, the lease is “a shortterm tactical intervention in SAA’s fleet strategy” while the airline works on deploying four dry leased A320s.

“We are pleased with our relationship with SunExpress and are excited with its potential as we both manage the seasonality of passenger traffic in our respective geographic markets,” Lamola said in a prior statement.

The SACAA has confirmed to Business Day it has received applications from SAA to wet lease four SunExpress Boeing B737-800 aircraft. These applications are being assessed.

SAA is set to start flying to São Paulo in Brazil, with the first flight departing from Cape Town on October 31 and from Johannesburg on November 6. SAA will fly the Airbus A330-200 on the Brazil route.

Earlier in 2023, SAA launched a recruitment drive among its former pilots to fly A320 aircraft.

Its strategic equity partnership deal with the Takatso consortium is still not finalised. The Competition Tribunal gave the go-ahead as long as the minority shareholders, which include Global Aviation, co-owner of LIFT airline, sell their shares. The minority shareholders indicated that they are willing to consider selling the shares.

It is still unclear how much of the R1.5bn SAA owed creditors earlier in 2023, in terms of a receivership that was created to allow the airline to exit business rescue in April 2021, is still outstanding.