BA and Kulula to resume flights under Comair soon
Comair is finally set to resume scheduled flights on its local and regional route networks in Southern Africa. Comair operates a local franchise of British Airways and the low-cost Kulula brand that has become popular with South Africans. Operations at the airline were suspended in March at the onset of the COVID-19 hard lockdown.
With deteriorating finances a worry, Comair voluntarily entered business rescue in May. It took several months for Comair’s business rescue practitioners to iron out the process and secure funding to enable the airline to return to the skies. The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the global aviation industry. National lockdowns and travel bans have prevented airlines from flying and severely diminished customer demand for aviation.
Comair reported a R 564-million loss for the first half of 2020 as a result. A media statement issued on 31 October confirmed Comair had secured funding from an investor. It also received the required approval from regulators, which means the company will be able to resume flights soon.
A new South African entity, named SA BidCo, was given the green light to buy Comair last week. The Competition Commission approved the transaction between Comair and SA BidCo as there was no horizontal overlap, since SA BidCo does not conduct any activities or services competing with Comair. The commission found there was no vertical overlap between Comair and SA BidCo either, as neither party engages in the same supply chain.
The business rescue process has been extremely difficult for Comair. During the past few months there were several obstacles to overcome. However, there were glimpses of hope along the way, making South Africans think it would not be long before the familiar BA and Kulula planes were back in the air.
“We knew the business rescue process wasn’t going to be easy. However, when the lockdown grounded us and we weren’t able to earn any revenue, it was the only way to save the company and most of the jobs,” Comair CEO Wrenelle Stander said. During Level 3 of the national lockdown, the aviation sector was permitted to gradually resume operations under certain conditions.
Mango Airlines, FlySafair and Airlink were able to resume scheduled flights in June, but Comair still had not secured an investor or completed its business rescue process, preventing it from taking to the skies. Comair says it is now closer to completing business rescue and hopes to resume operations for British Airways and Kulula in a few weeks.
Glenn Orsmond of the Comair Consortium is hopeful flights will be operational in December.“We’re immensely grateful for all the support we’ve had from everyone to reach this important point. We’re all looking forward to welcoming the flying public back on board again, and for Comair to help rebuild the aviation sector and play our part in South Africa’s economic revival,” Orsmond said.
