Two leased aircraft expand South African Airways’ fleet to 20
January 20, 2025
Following the arrival of two leased aircraft in the last fortnight, South African Airways’ fleet has grown to 20, with the addition of a further five units planned for 2025. “This is a remarkable achievement considering that just over three years ago, the airline emerged from business rescue with just six aircraft,” said interim CEO John Lamola.
Augmenting the A330s and A340-300s in South African Airways’ existing fleet, the SAA-branded A320s come at a time of growth for the carrier. “Since 2021, the team at SAA has worked strategically and consistently to grow the fleet and route network to add seat capacity in the domestic and regional market and thereby contributing to the affordability of air travel,” Lamola added.
In November 2024, the airline reported its first positive bottom line (for the financial year 2022-2023), reporting a net profit of £11 million. This was achieved with only six to eight aircraft, since which time “a prudent fleet expansion plan has seen the number of operated aircraft double, and seven more aircraft rented for delivery during the financial year 2025/2026”. At the time, Lamola stated that SAA has now “entered a period of consolidation of the current route network and fleet strategy, and [is] looking to the next phase of quantum growth”.
New of the additional aircraft comes as SAA has launched a new service between Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and South Africa’s Johannesburg. Services to Zimbabwe’s Harare and Zambia’s Lusaaka have also been increased to twelve weekly from ten and seven flights respectively.
Noting that the ongoing supply chain crisis (amongst other factors) has impacted the delivery of new aircraft “and increased the cost and scarcity of second-hand aircraft,” securing the two aircraft on lease from AerCap “is one proof of the recovery of the airline’s credit status with major international aviation finance institutions,” concluded SAA.
