Cash-strapped SA Airways operated at a loss in the 2012/2013 financial year despite an increase in total revenue to R27.1 billion, chief financial officer Wolf Meyer said on Wednesday.

"Our revenue income is up by 14 percent... cost savings are in excess of R1 billion," he told reporters in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg.

"SAA has a very weak balance sheet. We do however have the R5bn guarantee from the shareholder which still puts us in a position to operate as normal."

The operating loss was R991 million for the 2012/2013 financial year, with a loss of R1.2bn before tax.

Meyer said the airline's revenue increased by 13 percent from R22.6bn in the previous financial year to R25.6bn.

Total income increased from R23.9bn to R27.1bn for the 2012/2013 financial year. This was due to increase in airfares, increases in passenger revenue and an increase in capacity.

Airfares increased by seven percent -- a move partially driven by the weakening of the rand.

"The rand weakened... and had a negative influence on our operating expenses. In real terms costs are down by two percent from the previous financial year.

Operating costs were up by 12 percent from R24.6bn to R27.5bn.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said no bonuses were paid to executives. He said it was important to stabilise the airline's finances and they knew it would take time.

Gigaba would not elaborate on how much funding SAA would need from Treasury as part of its turnaround strategy.

"We really can't answer that question now because we don't want to create sensation around the figures," Gigaba explained after a question from a reporter.

Once a figure had been agreed on with Cabinet it would be made public. There would be no job cuts at the airline, no matter how difficult things were financially, Gigaba added.

The Democratic Alliance said various turnaround strategies for SAA over the last 20 years had not worked.

"We simply cannot continue with business as usual any longer. SAA has been granted an excess of R16 billion over 20 years to stay in the air," DA MP Natasha Michael said in a statement.

"All nine turnaround strategies presented over 13 years by various ministers of public enterprises have not worked. Government needs to stop throwing good money at a bad problem. Indeed, SAA is proving to be a dark hole for public funding."

She said the funding given to the airline should rather be used to help grow the economy and create jobs.

On September 10, Gigaba unveiled a 12-year turnaround strategy for SAA to consolidate its routes and update its fleet. The strategy was aimed at bringing the national carrier back to a point where it could leverage off its balance sheet.

SAA reported a loss of R1.25 billion in 2012.

In May, Business Day reported that SAA postponed its bond issue in favour of borrowing R1.5bn from two banks. The R1.5bn was working capital to keep operations running while SAA grappled with high fuel prices and its loss-making, long-haul business in a highly competitive market.

SAA used a R5bn state guarantee extended to it last year to secure the loan.

In January last year, SAA received a R550 million bank "facility" to cover fuel and other short-term commitments.

In 2012, the airline said its losses over the past decade amounted to R14.7bn.