South African Airways gets 3.5 bln rand emergency funding from development bank

Cash-strapped state carrier South African Airways (SAA) will receive 3.5 billion rands ($244 million) of emergency funding from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the airline's business rescue practitioners said on Tuesday. SAA is fighting for its survival after it entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December and cancelled some flights because of cash shortages.

"We can confirm that the Development Bank of Southern Africa has committed 3.5 billion rands in funding to the SAA Practitioners, with an immediate drawdown of 2 billion rands," said the team overseeing SAA's bankruptcy protected restructuring. ($1 = 14.3325 rand)