Comair has announced that it is extending the suspension of scheduled kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair) flights until August 31, 2021.
This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa would remain on adjusted level 4 lockdown.
With very little to no demand for business travel and international travel bans, the operator decided to temporarily suspend all scheduled flights from July 5. Flights were supposed to recommence from July 30.
“This decision was not made lightly, as it has a significant impact on both our customers and our employees.
“However, under the circumstances we believe it is the correct course of action to ensure the health and wellbeing of our customers and employees.
“We empathize with government’s unenviable position with regards to balancing the health of the nation and the suffering economy,” said Comair CEO Glenn Orsmond.
“We also welcome the announcement opening vaccine registration for the 35–49-year-old group from 15 July 2021.
“This is a crucial step towards ensuring the safety of our customers and our employees, as well as stimulating demand and the recovery of our economy and tourism industry.
“We anticipate the vaccine roll-out picking up pace in earnest and hope to see it reaching critical mass in the next month or two and look forward to welcoming our customers back on board on 1 September,” concluded Orsmond.
Taking the potential variables into consideration, Comair plans to resume scheduled operations on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.