Sorry Myeni, SAA Airbus deal goes Nene’s way

The board of SAA has approved the Airbus swap deal which chairperson Dudu Myeni tried to reconfigure.

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The Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has directed South African Airways (SAA) to swap the purchase of 10 A320 aircraft for a lease of five A330-300.

“The national Treasury has also been in direct contact with Airbus to ensure that all the required actions are executed smoothly to conclude the deal,” a statement from the ministry of finance posted on twitter late Monday said.

The announcement ends speculation as to whether the new finance minister, Gordhan, would prevail over powerful SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni, who reportedly preferred an alternative deal that would have effectively seen a middleman purchase the aircraft, which would then be leased to the national airline.

Gordhan warned soon after his appointment, a week ago, that he would stick with prudent ways of handling the country’s purse.

“The implementation of the deal in this manner will mean that SAA will no longer be required to pay additional pre-delivery payments to Airbus,” explained the finance ministry, which added that National Treasury would work closely with Airbus and SAA to finalise the swap transaction. – African News Agency (ANA)