Further financial support will help SA Express (SAX) to grow its fleet, thereby growing its competitiveness, the airline said.

“The extension of the financial support will thus not only ensure a reliable schedule and improved on-time performance for the airline from now onwards, but also provide it with the necessary liquidity to grow its fleet,” it said.

This as the airline on Friday announced that it had received extended financial support from the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

This follows the lifting of the temporary suspension of its operations on Wednesday by the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) which led to the disruption of its schedules.

“The shareholder, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), has extended to SAX the necessary financial support thereby enabling the airline to resume operations in a sustainable manner and to deliver on its mandate as an important domestic and regional passenger and cargo carrier,” it said.

The airline resumed flights on Friday, after the lifting of the temporary suspension of its operations on Wednesday by the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA).

The suspension led to the disruption of the airline’s schedules.

The financial support, it said, came at a time when it was on a path to financial and operational sustainability.

“This will, in turn, allow SA Express to become even more competitive and to further expand its network by introducing new routes and additional frequencies on key domestic and regional routes, in line with its turnaround strategy.”

The financial support came as the airline’s flights were grounded on Wednesday as a result of operational reasons.

SA Express — which falls within the ambit of the DPE — said the additional frequencies will go a long way in providing its customers with a convenient schedule flexibility.

It attributed Wednesday’s grounding to financial challenges of the past few years and a weak balance sheet.

SAX offers connectivity between primary and secondary domestic destinations in South Africa and five other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.

Read: SA Express remains grounded due to ‘operational difficulties’