Grounded airline Skywise’s air service licence is still valid and a recent inspection conducted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority found the airline to be safe and reliable to operate an air service operation‚ the Department of Transport said on Wednesday.
It said the Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC) had met with Skywise’s management on Wednesday to assess and understand operational challenges that the airline had reportedly been experiencing.
“This is particularly in respect of the fact that the ASLC‚ in line with the requirements of the Air Services Licensing Act takes special interest in protecting the general flying public‚” the department said.
It added: “Skywise Airline’s air service licence is still valid and based on the representative of SACAA a recent inspection conducted on Skywise in November 2015‚ found Skywise to be safe and reliable to operate an air service operation.”
However Skywise’s plans to resume flights this week appear to have been dashed.
The Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA)‚ which grounded the airline last week over an outstanding debt of some R8 million for aircraft landing‚ take off and parking charges‚ was quoted earlier on Wednesday as saying it had rejected Skywise’s suggested payment terms.
It was reported as saying that relaxing its conditions further for the struggling airline‚ could lead to negative economic effects on the organisation.
TMG Digital.
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