Cabinet on Wednesday took a hard line against apparent misconduct at South African Airways .
A strike at SA Airways by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union is over, both parties said on Thursday.
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/ 20 February 2009
South African Airways (SAA) workers embarked on a strike on Friday in a dispute over the payment of premiums and labour brokers, the airline said.
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/ 18 February 2009
New equipment to detect drugs in the baggage of SAA crew and passengers was brought into use on Wednesday morning.
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/ 17 February 2009
A special task team was formed on Tuesday to tackle drug-trafficking through South African airports.
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/ 17 February 2009
UK customs officials said on Tuesday they had released the crew of an SAA plane on bail, after arresting them and seizing cocaine.
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/ 16 February 2009
Fifteen South African Airways (SAA) crew members were arrested at Heathrow in London on Monday for possession of illegal goods, the airways said.
A skills shortage in the SAA technical division could cause problems in retaining US approval to operate on its routes, Solidarity warned on Monday.
The state-owned airline has received R20-billion in bail-outs in the past five years, reports Lynley Donnelly.
SAA said on Wednesday its full-year revenue rose 9% to R22,5-billion, but rising fuel costs posed a threat to its profitability goals.
Former SAA hostess Linda Charity Danie was on Tuesday sentenced to a fine of R1 500 or five months jail for stealing a passenger’s diamond ring.
South African Airways (SAA) said on Friday it was on track to meet the June 1 deadline for e-ticketing compliance. SAA said its issuing rate for e-tickets exceeded 96,5% which is the current industry average according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Department of Home Affairs said on Wednesday it planned to establish shelters for foreigners who have fled xenophobic attacks over the last two weeks. The BBC reported on Wednesday that seven ”refugee camps” would be set up. By Monday night there were an estimated 17Â 000 displaced foreigners left in Johannesburg.
Several institutions, including the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and national carrier South African Airways, offered funding totalling more than R20-million to xenophobia victims on Tuesday. SAA chief executive Khaya Ngqula said the airline would donate about R750Â 000 to the Red Cross.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe on Saturday for an election run-off with President Robert Mugabe and said the veteran leader wanted to ”decimate” Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) structures. Tsvangirai arrived at Harare airport aboard a regular South African Airways flight at about 10.30am GMT.
South African Airways (SAA) and its pilots have reached a three-year salary and restructuring agreement, the airline announced on Thursday. The agreements would facilitate greater labour stability and assist the airline with its return to sustainable profitability, CEO Khaya Ngqula said.
State-owned South African Airways (SAA) said on Tuesday its restructuring plan was on track but rising oil prices and a volatile exchange rate posed big challenges. The airline said last year it was seeking to save R638-million in labour costs in a bid to return to profitability and could shed more than 2 000 jobs as part of a restructuring exercise.
A total of 7 868 items of luggage belonging to South African Airways (SAA) passengers were reported missing from airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London in the three-month period between December 1 and February 29 this year.
Nigeria’s Senate has passed a motion condemning a string of attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and ordered its foreign affairs committee to look into the matter urgently. Senator Grace Bent, who sponsored the motion, noted ”with serious concern the protracted and unabated intimidation, brutalisation and cases of robbery and sundry attacks”.
Transport workers in pay negotiations with South African Airways (SAA) said on Wednesday their 4 000 members would not take the decision to strike lightly. ”We are not strike hungry here. We have made the sacrifice in terms of wage freezes,” said the secretary general of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union.
African National Congress (ANC) MPs with disabilities have threatened to embark on protests if the quality of service rendered to disabled people at South African airports is not improved. Briefing the media on Thursday, ANC MP Maxwell Moss said the Airports Company South Africa, as well as airlines, had failed to attend to the needs of disabled passengers.
In order to pursue a civil claim for damages in the high court, regional airline Comair is seeking an order from the Competition Tribunal declaring that an incentive scheme for travel agents that was run by South African Airways (SAA) was a prohibited practice in terms of the Competition Act.
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/ 25 February 2008
About R54-million-worth of cocaine, smuggled into the country from Brazil, was confiscated at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday, police said. Police in São Paulo, Brazil, had notified South African authorities on Saturday that a plane heading to OR Tambo was carrying cocaine.
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/ 2 February 2008
A change in baggage-handling companies led to long delays at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Friday, with some passengers having to wait up to three hours for their baggage, according to media reports. Among the flights affected were Swiss Air, Iberia and Air France, the Saturday Star reported.
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/ 28 January 2008
James Kamte raised his hands in praise after scoring a breakthrough victory with an explosive five-birdie back nine to overhaul his rivals and win the R1,8-million Dimension Data Pro-Am at the Gary Player Country Club on Sunday. In doing so, Kamte also became the first black South African to win on the tough summer swing of the Sunshine Tour.
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/ 23 January 2008
A truck drove into a stationary aircraft at Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday morning, minutes before the aircraft was due to take off. No one was injured in the incident, which happened at about 8.30am, airport media officer Deidre Hendricks said. ”There was an incident early this morning … It has had no impact on airport operations,” she said.
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/ 21 January 2008
A new South African airline called Redair has been given the rights to operate five weekly round-trip flights from Cape Town or Durban to Stansted in the United Kingdom, a media report said on Monday. Andy Cluver, the chief executive of Civair, said he hoped the airline would start operating this year.
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/ 3 December 2007
South African Airways (SAA) apologised to a passenger after she broke a leg when her flight from Washington hit a patch of turbulence, a media report said on Monday. Ronel Stevens was asleep, stretched out over two seats, when the aircraft hit an air pocket.
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/ 12 November 2007
Inspections on Boeing 737-200s as ordered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were being carried out on Monday. CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu said a number of airlines had submitted reports. The inspections were ordered by the authority after a Nationwide carrier lost an engine during take-off and had to make an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport last week.
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/ 10 November 2007
Two hundred South African Airways (SAA) passengers stranded in Senegal will arrive back in the country on Saturday, the airline said on Friday. Their SAA 204 flight experienced technical on Thursday, when the Airbus failed to take off from its scheduled stop-over in Dakar.
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/ 8 November 2007
South African Airways (SAA) posted a net profit before tax and restructuring charges of R136-million for the six months ended September 2007, after a period of massive losses, acting chief financial officer Clive Else said on Thursday. Revenue rose to R11-billion from R9,6-billion, reflecting a 1,2% profit margin.
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/ 7 November 2007
Members of Parliament on Wednesday heard a plea from the troubled state airline, South African Airways (SAA), for an injection of R744,4-million to pay for one-off labour restructuring costs. The cash, they were told, is needed before the last day of November.