The carrier will return to the skies after exiting a bankruptcy process in May and securing investors, but will not initially revive its Heathrow-Johannesburg route.

Interim chief executive Thomas Kgokolo said the carrier was now “ostensibly a brand-new airline”.

The relaunch comes after equity firm Takatso Consortium secured a 51% stake in a slimmed down SAA, with the South African government retaining 49%. During the bankruptcy process, about 80% of its workforce was shed.

SAA’s destination map confirms its initial network is confined to six routes from its Johannesburg hub to Cape Town, Accra, Kinshasa, Harare, Lusaka and Maputo.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means SAA won’t return to all of our previous routes immediately,” Kgokolo said.

“We will continually monitor developments in the aviation sector by analysing data and insights to help rebuild our full flight schedule to the right places at the right time.”