South Africa Airways needs $540 million in working capital from next month

Passengers board a South African Airways plane at the Port Elizabeth International Airport, South Africa. [Photo: Courtesy]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s cash-strapped state airline will need a total of 7.5 billion rand ($540 million) from next month to fund day-to-day operations into 2019, a presentation to a parliamentary committee by the airline showed on Tuesday.

SAA, which has not generated a profit since 2011, survives on state guarantees and is regularly cited by credit ratings agencies as a drain on the government purse.