The Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) for State-owned airline South African Airways (SAA) are continuing their efforts to develop a business rescue plan for the company, while cutting its costs and achieving further operational efficiencies. The assurance was given in a media release issued on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the BRPs secured R3.5-million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa. This was to provide the extra post commencement funding to keep SAA going and to allow the BRPs to develop and publish their business rescue plan, which must be completed by the end of February, and then presented to the airline’s creditors.

Meanwhile, the demand for SAA flights has been under examination. Flights experiencing low demand will be cancelled and consolidated into other flights. The decisions on which flights to cancel will be based on current forward bookings for February. This is to ensure that SAA operates efficient flights.

In its statement, SAA recognised the importance of providing its customers with advance warning of any flight cancellations. “We are committed to accommodating all affected customers on alternative flights, operated by the airline and its Star Alliance partners,” assured SAA chief commercial officer Philip Saunders. “Any inconvenience or delays are intended to be minimal.”

In its statement, the airline said that these operational changes have been notified to its alliance partners, travel agents and “relevant stakeholders”. SAA expressed its appreciation for their continuing support in re-accommodating their passengers.

The BRPs have been and are also seeking to save cash by reviewing SAA’s contracts with outside entities. Any onerous contracts will be cancelled. Others will be renegotiated to achieve commercially-acceptable terms. The aim of all these measures is to establish a base on which a restructured airline can be constructed.