On Tuesday, South African British Airways franchise carrier Comair announced that it would be suspending all services. The halting of operations will begin on Thursday and last until the 19th of April. It includes all flights under the airline’s own low-cost kulula.com brand. Pin BA South African franchise Comair will suspend all service from Thursday. Photo: British Airways British Airways South African franchise carrier Comair is the latest in the long list of airlines to announce the suspension of all traffic as a result of the corona-crisis. Beginning on Thursday until the 19th of April, all of Comair’s personnel will be sent home. The dates for the suspension coincide with the time set by the South African government for a three-week nationwide lockdown, announced on Monday.
In a statement on Tuesday , Comair described the coronavirus as the most devastating global pandemic in modern times and said that it had “certainly put a huge strain on operations”. It said that this would force everyone to change how business is conducted, and how customers are served.
“We will resume with our scheduled flights on Sunday April 19 2020. Comair will try to accommodate customers wanting to travel over the next two days, subject to availability and fare differences. We will not operate any flights on Thursday March 26,” the airline’s CEO Wrenelle Stander said in the statement. Pin Comair owns one of the grounded 737 MAX planes with BA livery. Photo: Boeing What does it mean for Comair passengers and staff?
The company further announced that all of its staff would be sent home, and those able to work from their homes would continue to do so. It did not mention any potential support for employees who would find themselves without work and income. Passengers scheduled to fly during this time are offered to change their tickets without a fee (although differences in fare would still apply) or receive a voucher for the amount of the original ticket, valid for 12 months.
Comair was founded in 1946 and today owns 20 aircraft of varying Boeing 737 models. One of these is the grounded 737 MAX, with another 7 on order. It joined BA as a franchise partner in 1996 and took on the livery of British Airways International. As such, it is a member of the one world Alliance. It employs 2,193 people. Pin kulula.com’s Flying 101 and Europcar planes in […]
