A final liquidation date has been set for South African Express (EXY, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) after South Africa's International Air Services Council (IASC) cancelled all its licences and related route rights following the failure of a second sale attempt, spelling the end of the road for the regional state carrier that has not flown since it was provisionally liquidated in April 2020.

The court date for the final liquidation has been scheduled for September, legal counsel for SA Express provisional liquidators have confirmed to ch-aviation.

Fin24 earlier reported the IASC confirmed the cancellation of the licenses in a July 8 letter to provisional liquidator Aviwe Ndyamara, who had indicated he was trying to sell the airline's licenses as intangible assets.

In a statement shared with ch-aviation, Ndyamara confirmed the IASC "was well within their rights to cancel the licenses" as SA Express had not been operating for more than 12 months and was in provisional liquidation.

Under South Africa's Air Services Licensing Act, licenses are only valid for 12 months from the date of issue, and operations can not be interrupted for longer than one year. A license also lapses as soon as the holder's estate is sequestrated and/or wound up. Still, licenses remain valid unless cancelled or revoked by the council.

Ndyamara said the Air Services Council had not cancelled the licenses two years ago when the airline went into provisional liquidation because it had been unable to meet due to the pandemic and due to regulatory delays in its re-appointment after the tenure of its office bearers had ended. The Transport Minister had only reappointed new council members in March 2022.

The provisional liquidator also confirmed that a second sale process concluded on June 28, 2022, without securing a buyer who could offer the reserve purchase price of ZAR10 million rands (USD583,000).

The final liquidation of the airline had been postponed numerous times in the hope of finding new investors. A failed rescue bid in 2020 by Fly SAX, a special purpose vehicle created by former employees, resulted in the new bidding process in March 2022. At the time, three new (unnamed) parties had expressed interest.

The Fly SAX consortium did not bid in the second sale process, Ndyamara said. "They were advised that there was a second sale process, and they were at liberty to do so, and they failed to and/or opted not to do so. The liquidators did all that was within their powers to retain value for the benefit of the entire body of creditors of SA Express," he added.

Ndyamara was reacting to Fly SAX and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) saying they were "extremely aggrieved" about the current situation. They said Fly SAX had made a ZAR5 million (USD291.500) offer in 2021, which the liquidator had rejected on the basis that a better offer could be found. "It is very clear now that the liquidator and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) had no intention to save the airline", adding, "our worst nightmare has finally come true".