British Airways flights operated by South African franchisee Comair have been indefinitely suspended following an initial 24-hour grounding that began on Saturday. South Africa’s air safety regulator said it was working through evidence provided by Comair in an effort to get flights restarted as soon as possible.
The Civil Aviation Authority revoked Comair’s air operator’s certificate on Saturday after starting an investigation into a spate of recent mid-air emergencies affecting British Airways branded flights and Comair’s low-cost subsidiary Kulula.
The investigation resulted in a single Level 1 safety finding which automatically means an immediate revocation of an airline’s air operator’s certificate. Comair provided evidence to the CAA late on Saturday night and after reviewing documents through the night, the safety team withdrew the Level 1 finding at 6:30 am on Sunday.
Comair, however, only provided the final requested documents at 7:30 am on Sunday so the CAA decided to keep the airline grounded while it reviews the remaining evidence and decides whether Comair has done enough to address a slew of less serious safety concerns.
“The SACAA is fully committed to ensuring that the Operator is back in the air and has dedicated a full team to assess and review the evidence as it gets submitted,” the regulator said in a statement.
“The commitment to safety in this case supersedes any other need and this is to ensure that South Africa maintains its safety record of having ZERO fatal airline accidents in over thirty years on South African soil.”
Comair had been hoping to restart flights by midday on Sunday. Comair chief executive Glenn Orsmond said the indefinite grounding was a “huge blow” for South Africa’s aviation industry.
Orsmond estimated that the decision has effectively wiped 40 per cent of South Africa’s domestic airline capacity.
“The implications for the aviation sector and the country are considerable should the suspension continue for any length of time,” Orsmond said on Sunday.
“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.”
A week ago, a Kulula flight was forced to divert due to “engine issues, while two weeks ago, a British Airways branded jet was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from East London after the landing gear failed to retract.
Last month, another Kulula jet made an emergency landing after suffering an engine failure shortly after takeoff.
Comair is a franchise partner of British Airways and operates domestic flights across South Africa and some regional services. Kulula is Comair’s low-cost brand and operates domestic services.
