South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) says it has conducted talks with a number of foreign carriers over commercial partnerships but has not approached any over their interest in acquiring a stake in the African carrier.
Reports in the South African media this past weekend implied SAA had engaged Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) and Emirates (EK, Dubai International) over their becoming a strategic partner in the ailing state-owned airline, a claim both Emirati airlines have since rejected.
In a separate statement, SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed the airline has indeed held talks with Emirates as well as Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Kenya Airways, Air Mauritius, United Airlines, and Singapore Airlines but these discussions have focussed purely on commercial agreements such as interline, codeshare, cargo as well as the secondment of surplus SAA flight and cabin crew.
"We have not discussed any possibility of them investing in SAA as part of [the] SEP process," he added.
Earlier this month, SAA's chief executive Vuyana Jarana pledged to South African trade union Solidarity that the carrier would "immediately seek out a partner" despite previous statements that this would only be done once the airline holding had been fully restructured.
