Originally Posted by B747-437B

The unfortunate reality of doing business in South Africa is that it is not a level playing field when you are competing against a state-owned or appropriately connected "empowered" company. I won't go into specifics on a public forum, but there is bad blood between Jet Airways and SAA already because of some disputes regarding the A340 lease deal and I don't doubt that the various SA agencies are making life difficult for 9W as a result.

The entire business environment in SA is very much an old boys club (two different clubs available depending on race though!) rather than a meritocracy. Corruption is not just rife, but it is often the only way to get even simple transactions completed. And heaven help you if you have to deal with the bureaucracy.