Pretoria - South African Airways (SAA) will host the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Cape Town next month, the national carrier announced on Wednesday.
As host of the meeting to be held from 2 to 4 June, SAA plans to highlight the growing importance of aviation within the developmental state milieu.
The airline expects the downstream economic enablement benefit of its Group operations to total close on R1 trillion over the next 20-years, its Acting Chairperson Dudu Myeni said.
The estimate is based on direct and indirect growth in direct and downstream employment creation with a forecast of 88 000 South African jobs across on aggregate through all sectors including tourism, foreign direct investments, goods and services.
“The outlook for growth in continental aviation is pegged at just over six percent for the next twelve months,” said Myeni and, with Africa’s GDP forecast at 5% growth she indicated that a robust aviation sector will drive growth substantially.
“With growing world interest in Africa’s rich mineral and agricultural resources as well as increased stability in the region, the stage is set for a giant leap forward in development and upliftment of the continent. Aviation will play an integral role as a socio-economic enabler during this process,” she explained.
The delegation to next month’s meeting will be led by the airline’s shareholder Minister Malusi Gigaba and supported by SAA’s Acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout.
SAA will next year celebrate eighty years in aviation.
Myeni added that SAA, inspired by its current strategic direction, plans to up the ante on its asset utilisation while simultaneously growing its non-asset based codeshare partnerships.
“Notwithstanding any fleet re-equipment decisions the airline still enjoys substantial latitude in terms of expanding its network offering to both travellers and business through strategic partnerships. It is our intention to take greater advantage of our Star Alliance membership whilst also seeking out non-aligned strategic partners.”
“Clearly, socio-economic transformation, education and skills development to facilitate the anticipated growth is equally as important,” said Myeni. “We are an airline Group for all South Africans and for us meaningful interaction with tomorrow’s leaders, as illustrated in the aviation career day we hosted at Swartkops this past weekend, provides the opportunity to positively contribute to the future of both the aviation industry and our country.”-SAnews.gov.za
