South Africa’s civil aviation regulator has grounded Comair and Kulula planes indefinitely on Sunday over unresolved safety issues.
Comair operates a number of domestic South African flights under British Airways colours as part of a franchise agreement, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
“This morning we communicated to them (Comair) that their air operator certificate is now indefinitely suspended until they close all of the findings,” South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu told Reuters.
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Gwebu said the suspension was initially for only 24-hours, however, Comair failed to address all the necessary safety issues, resulting in an indefinite suspension.
According to reports, Comair had experienced a number of safety problems in the past month, ranging from “engine failures, engine malfunction and landing gear malfunctions”.
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“This is a huge blow to our customers, employees and the flying public as it effectively takes 40% of the capacity out of the market,” Glenn Orsmond, Comair chief executive said in a statement.
“Our priority now is to assist passengers who have been stranded. We have chartered two aircraft to assist vulnerable passengers and those who most urgently need to travel.”
In 1996, Comair joined BA as a franchise partner and became known as British Airways Comair, taking on the colours and livery of British Airways International.
As franchise partner of BA and a member of the Oneworld alliance, Comair offered connections to the international route network and served local customers with British Airways standards in mind.
In 2001, South Africa’s first ‘no-frills’ carrier, kulula.com was launched by Comair. The name kulula is derived from the Zulu language meaning ‘easily’.
