The Sunday Times reported yesterday that the Hong Kong registrar of companies has demanded that South African Airways (SAA) submit its annual financial statement by September 6 or face deregistration, which would mean all SAA flights would be grounded to the country. The airline has since denied the claims. A spokesperson for the SAA was quoted by the Mercury newspaper saying that the “airline is unlikely to be deregistered”, and that it “constantly ensure that we meet the compliance requirements in all jurisdictions where we do business.”
They added: “Where concerns are raised by the relevant regulatory authorities, we engage with them to ensure that we remain compliant and continue to operate… “SAA is not oblivious to the impact any possible service interruption could have, not only on the airline but on its customers. To this end, the airline will spare no effort to ensure we are compliant and continue serving our customers in the markets where we operate.”