Comair flights grounded by South African safety regulator [now liquidated]

[Mattg]

The South African Civil Aviation Authority grounded all Comair and Kulula flights last Friday for 24 hours citing safety concerns. The airline failed to address these concerns within the timeline given so the airline is now grounded indefinitely.

Kulula, BA flights grounded indefinitely - TechCentral

South Africa's civil aviation regulator grounded Comair's planes indefinitely on Sunday over unresolved safety issues.

techcentral.co.za

For those unfamiliar, Comair is the South African British Airways franchise. They fly planes painted in British Airways colours with a "BA" flight number. It is also a oneworld affiliate. Kulula is a LCC owned by Comair.

 

[N860CR]

Very annoying. I was flying with them in a few days. Amazingly, Lift has a policy of not accepting foreign credit cards so I actually had to rock up at the desk with cash! Haven’t done that for a while.

Almost seems like a ploy to push people back into SAA

 

[dajop]

Hard to tell in many countries, including RSA, whether it is due to genuine and real safety concerns, or due to lack of lubrication.

 

[Quickstatus]

Comair operates relatively older aircraft but my experience with them has always been positive

 

[love_the_life]

Comair operates relatively older aircraft but my experience with them has always been positive

A few years back we flew JNB to VFA and must admit were very pleased to arrive safely. The plane was delayed while they worked on some mechanical issue and then someone in hi-viz labelled Engineering stayed on the plane while we flew. It rattled and shook and was in pretty poor nick and we were a bit gobsmacked as it was part of the BA 'family'. After that experience would be less than eager to fly them again.

 

[Mattg]

A few years back we flew JNB to VFA and must admit were very pleased to arrive safely. The plane was delayed while they worked on some mechanical issue and then someone in hi-viz labelled Engineering stayed on the plane while we flew. It rattled and shook and was in pretty poor nick and we were a bit gobsmacked as it was part of the BA 'family'. After that experience would be less than eager to fly them again.

At least the engineer, who would have obviously known about the mechanical issue, was willing to fly on the plane!

 

[Quickstatus]

rattled and shook and was in pretty poor nick

Rattling and shaking is generally interior fittings, so not necessarily related to mechanical safety

 

[docjames]

The engineer likely went with aircraft to be able to re-repair it at the outstation (VFA) in event of another failure.

 

[Mattg]

Comair is flying again. Looks like the suspension lasted 5 days.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[N860CR]

Yeah I ended up flying with them at the end of last week. Fairly empty so I think most had rebooked elsewhere. Left and arrived early so no complaints.

 

[Mattg]

Comair and Kulula flights are grounded again, this time due to financial problems.

Comair - Comair suspends flights pending receipt of funding

www.comair.co.za

Comair suspends flights pending receipt of funding​

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 8:00:00 PM
[Johannesburg, 31 May, 20h00] Comair has announced that regrettably it is obliged to suspend all British Airways (operated by Comair) and kulula.com flights from Tuesday evening 31 May 2022 pending successfully securing additional funding. The company’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) have advised that the process to raise the necessary capital is in progress and that there is reason to believe such funding may be secured. Once received, the airline will be able to recommence operations, but regrettably under these circumstances, the practitioners have no choice but to voluntarily suspend all scheduled flights until the funding is confirmed.

British Airways (operated by Comair) and kulula.com ticket sales have also been suspended with immediate effect.
...

 

[docjames]

Hoards of angry people who purchased seats in the last week or so venting online.

Also, British Airways showing no sign of intervening - wonder if a rebrand will eventually occur……

 

[N860CR]

I’ve booked with Lift for my next trip back in a month or so. Suspect I’ve taken my last Comair flight. A lot of people have now been burnt twice in the space of two months. I’m surprised BA persists with the licensing agreement.

 

[ScubaMel]

I was in the processing of booking flights MEL-CPT earlier in the year when the flights were suspended. My TA had put together the itinerary with a comair flight and wasn’t aware until I told her that they were suspended. I think by the time we ticketed them comair was back operating, but I’m even more glad now I insisted on SAA flights instead.

 

[N860CR]

Sadly, it seems Comair is now moving into liquidation. A disappointing outcome for a company that dates back to the 40s. Also a big hit for OneWorld options in Southern Africa.

 

[Mattg]

Sadly, it seems Comair is now moving into liquidation. A disappointing outcome for a company that dates back to the 40s. Also a big hit for OneWorld options in Southern Africa.

Such a shame. For decades (prior to COVID-19) Comair was one of the only consistently profitable airlines in the world.

 

[Berlin]

So sad- I’ve always loved flying with them. Found the service and especially food always to be so much better than British Airways mainline (and was never aware that the branding was just licensed out). A real shame.

 

[Assassin]

So sad- I’ve always loved flying with them. Found the service and especially food always to be so much better than British Airways mainline (and was never aware that the branding was just licensed out). A real shame.

Agreed. A really nice little airline. Airlink is also excellent- let’s hope they survive this period.

 

[mbeder]

I have return flights Syd-CPT booked for July / August which included our usual ORT-CPT BA6429 flight - Qantas informed us of the cancelation late last week:

“We're looking at alternative flight options for you and we'll send your new flight details within the next 72 hours once we've rebooked you. You can check Manage Booking or the Qantas App for updates.”

 

[N860CR]

Qantas have in the past booked onto the SAA flights. There are significantly less of those than there used to be, but I’d imagine a few more will pop up. There will need to be a big increase in capacity between JNB and CPT.