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Johannesburg - Aircraft manufacturer Airbus says it is currently in negotiations with South African Airways (SAA) over a cancelled order of 15 A320 aircraft worth $727m, which it could still be liable for.
Airbus told media on Monday that they were renegotiating with SAA, creating a "packaged deal" comprising new fuel-efficient aircraft for the state-owned airline.
"We are in negotiations with SAA to see how we can discuss the contract in terms of the number of aircraft or their pricing - whatever possible to make SAA happy," said Airbus' vice-president sales for Africa & Indian Ocean, Hadi Akoum.
In 2002, SAA ordered 15 Airbus aircraft for about US$727m, but cancelled the order in 2004 when it faced bankruptcy.
Newswire AFP said it had cost Transnet, SAA's parent at the time, more than R5.9bn to bail out the troubled airline and close the rand hedge-book, which resulted in SAA's financial woes. Transnet CEO Maria Ramos said the airline planned to ditch an order for 15 Airbus A320 planes, opting rather for the lease of 16 others in order to cut costs.
However, media reports claimed that even though Airbus had received SAA's cancellation letter, it never confirmed that the order had been cancelled - which means that SAA may still owe Airbus millions.
Akoum said Airbus was meant to deliver the aircraft to SAA in 2010/2011, replacing its fleet of Boeing 737s.
Akoum told media that Airbus "understands that SAA had to finalise its financial situation with Transnet". "We have explained to the new team at SAA today that the offer is part of a packaged deal and it's only the A320 we are negotiating over."
"We are hoping that, in one or two months' time, we will finalise this," he said.
- Fin24.com