South African Express


South African Express Airways SOC Ltd, known as South African Express or simply SA Express, was a state-owned airline based in South Africa that started operations on 24 April 1994. Although the airline was operationally independent of South African Airways, its flights were incorporated within the strategic alliance with South African Airways. The airline had its head office at Airways Park, Jones Road, next to O.R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.

History

On 24 May 2018 the South African Civil Aviation Authority grounded the airline due to "serious safety risks". They reported it could be months before the airline was operational again. Flights resumed on 23 August, following the issuance of airworthiness certificates for a portion of the airline's fleet.
On 13 February 2020, South African Express entered the Business Rescue process, a local form of bankruptcy protection. On 18 March 2020, the airline suspended all operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28 April 2020, the business rescue practitioners submitted an application to the Pretoria High Court for the liquidation of the airline. The court approved a provisional liquidation, with stakeholders being given until 9 June 2020 to voice objections before a final dissolution of the company.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

The holding company is South African Airline Holdings Limited, which is wholly owned by the Government of South Africa.

Business trends

South African Express is loss-making, and its accounts have been qualified by the auditors since 2012/13; the 2016/17 accounts remain unaudited and have been subject to parliamentary questions. Figures that had been made available were disputed, and the previously published accounts were withdrawn in November 2011 after accounting errors that dated back several years were discovered. Some fuller reports have been published since then, although figures are frequently restated in the following year's Report. Available figures are:

200920102011201220132014201520162017
Turnover 1,857n/a1,6402,0222,2962,5622,5942,3912,310
Net profit/loss after tax *0.716.9
Number of employees 839n/a1,0261,0901,1361,1881,1271,036
Number of passengers 1.51.41.61.51.51.41.3
Passenger load factor 67646165656264
Number of aircraft n/a24242422
Notes/sourcesUnaudited


Notes: Profitability figures for 2008/09 are not shown above, as they are believed to have been restated since the publication of the Annual Report. Revised figures for 2010/11 are from press reports in April 2013; the financial statements for 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 were audited, but received a qualified audit opinion.

Destinations

South African Express served the following destinations : All flights had been suspended by 18 April 2020.

Current fleet

The South African Express fleet consisted of the following aircraft as of February 2020:
AircraftIn ServiceOrdersPassengersNotes
Bombardier CRJ20010—50
Bombardier CRJ7004—70
Bombardier Q40010—74
Total240

Historical fleet

The airline fleet previously included the following aircraft: