Smoke On Go

Mango back in the skies?

With Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan having missed the January deadline for leave to appeal the September High Court ruling that the sale of Mango could go ahead, business rescue practitioner Sipho Sono says negotiations will continue.

Image: Mango

Gordhan has demanded more information on the anonymous investor but Sono says the revived airline will be in competition with South African Airways and therefore limited information about the transaction was handed over to the minister.

According to aviation analyst Desmond Latham, the laws governing business rescue in South Africa mean the minister has run out of time to appeal the September ruling. He says Mango’s creditors, who are owed R2.8bn, have agreed to the sale of the airline and the resumption of some form of business practice. Sono says the sale can now go ahead.

Latham told the SABC that there is space for another low-cost airline operator in the country but Mango only has three aeroplanes at the moment meaning its operations will be severely limited.

Mango has been in business rescue since 2021. The big question says Latham is whether Mango will be able to operate the so called “golden triangle” routes of JHB-CT-DBN since it hasn’t been on the routes for over 12 months which is the cut-off time stipulated by the SACAA.

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