South Africa’s aviation regulator has suspended the operating licence of the company that operates British Airways and Kulula Air flights in the country amid safety concerns.
After an initial precautionary grounding of Comair-operated flights on Saturday, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) decided to indefinitely suspend the airline’s air operator’s certificate pending it addressing all of its regulatory concerns.
The regulator said it was concerned about a spate of occurrences affecting a concerning number of flights operated by Kulula Air and British Airways/Comair”.
“Just in the past month, Comair operations experienced occurrences ranging from engine failures, engine malfunction, and landing gear malfunctions, amongst others,” the SACAA said.
It said it has “dedicated a full team to assess and review the evidence as it is submitted.”
“The commitment to safety, in this case, supersedes any other need and this is to ensure SA maintains its safety record of having zero fatal airline accidents in more than 30 years on SA soil.”
Comair said it has chartered two aircraft to assist vulnerable passengers and those who most urgently need to travel.
“We urge affected passengers not to travel to the airport unless they have been able to make alternative arrangements,” it said.
JN/APA