Comair to start flying on December 1

Travellers looking to book flights on Comair can once again do so via kulula.com, from Monday (today).

The airline plans to resume operations on December 1. This follows it going into business rescue on May 5, after being forced to shutdown during the hard Covid-19 lockdown in late March.

Comair’s return to flight operations comes after its creditors and shareholders voted to adopt its business rescue plan on September 18. This move injected R500 million into the group, but will also see it eventually delist from the JSE.

The local airline sector, along with the entire tourism industry, was particularly hard hit by the lockdown, which at its peak bared interprovincial and international travel.

The lockdown has since eased, allowing for interprovincial travel but international travel from South Africa’s key tourism markets like the US, UK and Germany is still prohibited.

Despite the difficulties the industry and Comair have faced, its CEO and Comair Rescue Consortium representative Glenn Orsmond is optimistic about its prospects.

“We are excited to be returning to the skies and with competition being restored in the domestic market, the flying public can once again expect to achieve low airfares. We are proud to continue our kulula heritage of offering affordable airfares after introducing low-cost flying in South Africa close to 20 years ago.”

The first phase of its re-introduction will see the airline ramp up its kulula flights to full operation over the next few months. British Airways domestic and regional flights will re-open soon, as will kulula flights from Lanseria.

Orsmond says that the airline will at first operate a fleet of 15 aircraft across both its airline brands, and then gradually increase this number as the remainder of the fleet returns to service over the next few months.

It said customers who booked tickets before it was placed into business rescue will be able to utilise the value of their tickets through the Comair Travel Bank for future travel on Comair from mid-January onwards.