British Airways has a South African franchise.
The British Airways franchise in South Africa operates a fleet of Boeing 757s on regional routes. The planes have the typical British Airways livery. You wouldn't typically expect to see a British Airways plane in South Africa, even if it was the same plane.
There is bad news for the future of the airline. Comair entered business rescue after the start of the Pandemic. The company was taken control of by a specialist practitioners with the goal of maximizing odds of survival or at least achieving a better return for the company's debts than if the company were to liquidate.
Two years after the initial filing, both Comair and kulula.com have stopped operations. This applies to flights as of the evening of May 31, 2022. Future flights ticket sales have been suspended. The airline is grounded pending successful funding.
The company's business rescue practitioners have advised that the process of raising necessary capital is in progress, and that there is reason to believe that such funding will be secured. The airline will be able to resume operations if received. For the time being, there is no choice but to suspend operations.
Glenn Orsmond is the CEO of Comair.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience this suspension will cause our customers. We did everything we could to avoid it. Comair, the BRPs and the lenders are working all out to get the funding in place so that we can resume our normal flight schedule as soon as possible.
Comair is inherently a viable business. We have the two of the best airline brands in the country. We are on track to carry over 4 million passengers this year and generate R5.3 billion in revenue. We have excellent staff, a modern fleet, good sales and distribution channels and low operating costs, which is why we believe the funding will be secured.”
I feel bad for the employees of Comair, who are facing a lot of uncertainty right now. Competition is good for consumers.
Comair was losing money. The airline industry in South Africa was badly affected by the Pandemic. Not only did the airline have to suspend operations for some amount of time due to travel and flight restrictions, but South African airlines also didn't get the generous government support we saw for airlines in the United States.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority suspended Comair's air operator certificate in March of 2022, causing the carrier to be grounded for nearly a week. There were several safety incidents at the airline. After demonstrating that the risk and safety management systems at the airline were effective in managing potential hazards, the airline could once again resume flights.
I hope Comair can make a comeback, but there isn't much point in this ending. The airline was already in business rescue, so seeking funding after it suspends operations is not a sure bet.
If you're curious about what the Comair experience was like, check out my review.
Comair in South Africa has stopped all flights due to lack of funding. The airline has been in business rescue for around two years now, and no longer has the cash to operate flights. I'm a bit skeptical that the airline will get funding to resume flights.
Do you think Comair will make a comeback?
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