SOUTH African Airways has turned an operating loss last year of R130-million into a profit of R557-million this year, SAA chief executive Coleman Andrews announced on Tuesday. The national air carrier cut costs by more than R300-million and increased its revenue from R8,5-billion to R9,8-billion in the past year. More than 1200 staff have left the airline in the past year through voluntary departures or severance packages. Andrews said that the airline now flew to 503 destinations worldwide compared to just 70 destinations two years ago. “The previous international network had major structural flaws and served very few routes,” he said. “We’ve now built strong bilateral partners with other airlines and provided more routes.” The spiralling oil and fuel prices, however, would drastically affect operating costs for the rest of the year and force SAA to increase its ticket fares, said Andrews. “If the crude oil prices continue to rise, our fuel expenditure which makes up about 18% of total costs will increase and we will be forced to raise ticket sales,” he said.