CAPE TOWN - The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) lifted the suspension of Comair's planes with immediate effect on Wednesday night.
This comes after a five-day suspension when Comair was grounded over safety issues, leaving thousands of travellers stranded.
The SACAA said: "(We have) concluded the assessment and evaluation of Comair’s evidence to close the Level 1 findings raised during the audit, which started on 7 March 2022. The evaluation of the evidence was concluded on the evening of 16 March 2022. The impact of this outcome paves the way for the Director of Civil Aviation to uplift the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) of Comair with immediate effect.
"The SACAA audited Comair following a spate of occurrences, which posed safety risks by Kulula.com and British Airways Comair airlines. The Regulator sought to confirm Comair’s compliance with applicable Civil Aviation Regulations (CARs). The inspection was also aimed at reviewing Comair’s safety management systems (SMS) and quality control management system (QA) to establish compliance related to the reporting, analysis and follow-up on occurrences and corrective action plans to prevent a recurrence.
“This brings to an end a five-day long suspension of the AOC, which was imposed by the Regulator from 12 March 2022. The Director of Civil Aviation heralds the commitment shown by the Regulator’s inspectorate team from the first day of the audit leading up to the sleepless nights spent evaluating evidence, all in the interest of ensuring aviation safety," a statement read.
In a social media post, kulula.com said: "Comair urges customers affected by the flight cancellations to use ONLY the official channels communicated to apply for their credit. Take care not to share your confidential detail or engage with any websites and emails that are not official Comair channels. The following advice applies to affected passengers who wish to apply for their credit.
"For customers on British Airways (operated by Comair) flights, British Airways’ book with confidence policy will apply. Customers may also contact the Contact Centre on [email protected]
"kulula.com customers who have been affected will receive a full credit to the value of their ticket, valid for a period of six months. Customers wishing to rebook should email [email protected]"
Cape Times