The business rescue practitioners of SAA have been granted a one-month extension to publish their plan to save the embattled flag carrier from liquidation.
The airline was placed under business rescue in December and earlier in the month announced the cancellation of all its domestic routes apart from the popular Cape Town - Johannesburg flight in an effort to save costs.
The plan detailing the turnaround was set to be published before the end of February.
But on Friday, just one day before the deadline, business rescue practitioners Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson announced they had been granted an extension to the end of March following a vote by a majority of creditors .
“We are still in the process of finalising the steps to implement the proposed restructuring option as well as the anticipated effect the plan will have on stakeholders, including the estimated return to creditors,” the BRPs said.
“We believe that a further extension of one month will allow for sufficient time for us to finalise the plan, given the complexity and extent of engagement that is required in a business of this size."
During the month of March, the BRPs will communicate the plan to the creditors committee, the employees committee and government. Following these engagements, they will then publish the final plan before March 31.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, speaking at News24's Frontline post-Budget panel discussion on Thursday morning, said that the airline's business rescue practitioners have the final say on the plan to restructure the airline, and government will respect that authority
* This article has been updated to clarify that the business rescue practitioners will communicate the draft plan to the creditors committee, the employees committee and government before publishing it by March 31.