South African Express (EXY, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) is in the process of finalizing its fleet renewal plans for between 24 and 30 new aircraft due by 2022, CEO Inati Ntshanga has announced. Speaking to BusinessDay, Mr Ntshanga said a decision on whether the acquisition would be a lease or out-purchase was still undecided, as were the requisite funding structures, which he stressed would not come from government. The renewal plan forms part of the airline's long term strategy dubbed SAX 20/20 Vision which aims to turn the loss-making operation into a profitable, self sustaining venture through a dramatic expansion of the airline's network and fleet. SA Express' fleet currently consists of ten CRJ200s, four CRJ700s and ten Dash 8-400s used on domestic and regional operations. Comair (South Africa) (CAW, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) CEO Erik Venter said he believed SAX was now going head to head with local South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) partner Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) but questioned their ability to expand at this point in time given the current weak local and regional markets. SAX is set to issue a request for proposals for its proposed fleet plan next week.