SOUTH AFRICAN Airways (SAA) is expecting to post a modest profit following significant progress in its restructuring programme, CEO Khaya Ngqula announced last week, predicting ‘sustainable profitability’ by March 2009. This will however be affected by the recent huge rise in the oil price which has placed margins under pressure across the board, he added. The airline is set to expand and further modernise its fleet, with a strong focus on growth in Africa, South America and Asia. According to Ngqula, the restructuring exercise has to date reduced costs by almost R1bn – thanks to the grounding of the fleet of Boeing 747s and consultations with labour on standardising and simplifying conditions of employment.
