South Africa’s Competition Tribunal has approved Harith Aviation (Pty) Ltd’s acquisition of Safair Holdings (Pty) Ltd, subject to competition and public interest conditions covering information sharing, airport access and employment.
The Tribunal’s order is dated 27 October 2026. In its merger alert issued on 29 October, the Tribunal said Harith would exercise sole control over Safair Holdings and, consequently, FlySafair’s operations once the merger is implemented.
Safair Holdings owns and operates the low-cost passenger airline through Safair Operations. FlySafair provides scheduled domestic and regional passenger services.
The conditions include safeguards against the sharing of competitively sensitive information and provisions for fair and non-discriminatory access to infrastructure and services at Lanseria International Airport. They also include measures to protect employees against merger-related retrenchments.
Harith belongs to an asset management group specialising in infrastructure fund management. The group finances projects in energy, transportation, telecommunications, water and sanitation, and healthcare. The Tribunal identified the group’s interest in Lanseria International Airport as relevant to the merger.
The Tribunal’s case register lists the large merger under reference LM197Mar26 as approved subject to conditions, with reasons pending.
