Comair (British Airways South Africa)
Comair Limited is a leading South African aviation company that is listed on the Johannesburg Stock exchange (JSE:COM).
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Launched in 1946 Comair has made global aviation history by having posted 62 years of operating profit; an aviation record that is held by no other airline.
JMS Martin, Leon Zimmerman and AC Joubert had laid down the foundations for a business that would offer pilot training, a charter service, and possibly the sale of an occasional aircraft (this was developed into a long relationship between Comair and the Cessna Aircraft Company).
Commercial Air Services began by operating Fairchild UC-78's (found in Cairo after the war) as a charter service to some of the remotest places in Africa. New South African Aviation regulations in 1948 allowed for Comair to begin its first scheduled service using a new Cessna model 195. Carrying a pilot and four passengers, the Cessna followed the daily return route from Johannesburg to Durban via Kroonstad, Odendaalsrust, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem and Ladysmith. However, a regulated service was not a commercially viable option for Comair at this time, and when Government support was rejected, it was announced that the service must end. As luck would have it, the Anglo American Corporation approached Comair to keep the service - at least to the Free State Goldfields - and agreed to subsidise the losses within reason. Thus Comair continued to operate a scheduled route, and so secured its future existence.
In 1996, Comair Limited underwent major changes when it became a franchise partner with British Airways. On the 27th of October 1996, Comair became known as British Airways Comair, and took on the colors and livery of British Airways (Plc). Currently under the British Airways banner, services are operated from Johannesburg to Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Harare, Victoria Falls, Livingstone and Windhoek, and between Cape Town and Durban.
For more than 50 years, Comair Limited has provided a product and service of consistent value, reliability and professionalism, and now carries as average of 1.8 million passengers per annum locally and regionally with British Airways and kulula.com. It is the reputation of quality, and passion for service that will ensure Comair Limited, operating as British Airways and kulula.com, continues to play a major role in the South African aviation industry.
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