Comair collapse: British Airways’ South African accomplice Comair ‘beyond rescue’
Comair, the airline that flew in British Airways colors in southern Africa, won’t fly once more, its rescue practitioners have stated.
Richard Ferguson, who had been in search of to avoid wasting the enterprise for 2 years, stated: “We did our utmost to secure the funding, but – when we were unable to do so – had no option to lodge the application. It is an extremely sad day for the company, its employees, its customers and South African aviation.”
The collapse has taken round 40 per cent out of South Africa’s aviation capability.
Comair had a Southern African community connecting with BA companies, flying between Johannesburg and neighbouring nations together with Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It additionally operated South Africa’s first price range airline, Kulula, whose title means “It’s easy”, primarily serving Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Mr Ferguson added: “With its two airline brands – British Airways (operated by Comair) and Kulula.com – market share, modern aircraft fleet, experienced employees, sales and distributions channels, Comair was an inherently viable business.”
The service was onerous hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the extreme journey restrictions utilized to South Africa by the UK and different nations.
Comair filed for “Business Rescue” – a chapter safety standing much like “Chapter 11” within the US – in May 2020, and continued to function throughout a “focused restructuring of the company”.
But its flights had been suspended by the South African Civil Aviation Authority for some days in March 2022 over security issues, and it stopped flying fully on 31 May.
While Comair Limited was a separate industrial entity from British Airways, Sean Doyle, chief government and chairman of BA, was a non-executive director.
BA’s hyperlinks from London Heathrow to Johannesburg and Cape Town are unaffected.
A British Airways spokesperson stated: “We’re contacting customers due to fly with Comair to offer them rebook and refund options, including flights on other carriers where possible.
“British Airways services between London and South Africa continue to operate as normal and we’ll continue to provide support and assistance to our franchise partner and their colleagues at this difficult time.”
South African Airways, the closely loss-making rival of Comair, continues to be propped up by the federal government.
