Embattled national carrier, South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday night said it will ground all its fleet on Friday in compliance with the nationwide shutdown announced by President Ramaphosa on Monday.
The airline’s spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the company supports the national effort as announced by the government, to retard, contain, manage and disrupt the rate of transmission of the COVID-19.
“In recognition of the travel disruptions and restrictions that flow from the national lockdown and as part of looking after our customers, SAA has put measures in place to give passengers the flexibility to defer their travel to a period beyond the lockdown,” Tlali said.
The airline in February drew the ire of many South Africans when is said it will cease to operate routes to Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth in an effort to save the company from going belly up.
Tlali said SAA will resume its domestic flights on 17 April.
The state-owned airline is currently under business rescue after years of loss making and billions of rands in bailouts from government.
