The SAA board is weighing up the sale of a landing slot at Heathrow Airport in the UK to free up cash. A valuation by the government a few years ago valued the slot at R1-billion. It is now believed to be worth considerably more.

South African Airways (SAA) might walk away with a windfall of at least R1-billion from the potential sale of a valuable landing slot at Heathrow Airport in London.

SAA wants to raise money by selling assets to fund its flight operations and expansion after a plan to introduce private-sector investors into its ownership structure collapsed.

The deal's collapse means that investors will no longer inject R3-billion into SAA, leaving a hole in the airline's financial books and no investors available to fund its expansion plans.

To free up fresh capital, SAA's management and board are considering selling one of the two landing slots at Heathrow Airport, the rights of which are owned by the airline. SAA doesn't use both landing slots because it no longer operates flights in and out of the UK but currently leases them to British Airways and Qatar Airways. The lease with Qatar Airways ends in March 2025, paving the way for SAA to sell the slot to another airline while retaining the one currently leased to British Airways.

No decision has been made on the sale, which would be subject to approval by...