Mango Airlines briefly suspends flights due to outstanding payment




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South African Airways (SAA) subsidiary Mango Airlines temporarily suspended all flights and services on Tuesday until further notice due to outstanding payments to Air Traffic Navigation Services, Mango acting CEO William Ndlovu said. 

“Senior management and our shareholder are locked-in in emergency discussions to find an amicable solution to this impasse,” Ndlovu said in a statement.

The budget carrier is in a dire financial position despite the South African parliament having approved a special allocation of R2.7 billion for SAA subsidiaries.

On Monday SAA’s interim chief executive Thomas Kgokolo said Mango will enter a local form of bankruptcy protection known as business rescue.

In April Mango briefly halted flights because of outstanding payments to Airports Company South Africa and has not paid workers salaries for more than two months.