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The Civil Aviation Authority has suspended Comair’s Air Operator Certificate, a day after issuing a 24-hour precautionary suspension.
CAA said the suspension will remain in force until Comair, which operates Kulula.com and British Airways, addresses all the findings as communicated by the Regulator on Saturday morning.
“The SACAA recognises the efforts of the Operator to close the findings as speedily as possible and in this regard, the Operator started dispatching the evidence to the Regulator from the evening of Saturday 12 March.”
The Authority said the suspension follows the visit to the Operator to investigate and determine the cause of a spate of occurrences affecting a concerning number of flights operated by Kulula.com and BA Comair.
“This resulted in the Regulator raising three (3) level 1 findings, and one (1) level 2 finding. In terms of the oversight philosophy of the Regulator, a level 1 finding is an outcome which poses an immediate risk to safety and security, and it must be closed with immediate effect and a level 2 finding must be closed within 7 days.”
The CAA said it had accepted the corrective action and evidence submitted in respect of one Level 1 finding and this, therefore, means this finding is now closed.
It said the review of the rest of the evidence received on Sunday morning would continue.
According to the Civil Aviation Regulations, the Operator can appeal the decision of the suspension to the Director.
Moneyweb reported that Kulula notified customers of the weekend grounding, adding that it did not believe the suspension of services was justified. The SACAA says the airline can appeal the decision.
“Despite working through the night [on Saturday], Comair will not be able to resume operations today [Sunday]. The SACAA still needs to review the documentation provided overnight. We continue to engage constructively with the SACAA,” said Comair.
The airline said it is re-accommodating some passengers who have been affected by the suspension and will publish a list of all cancelled flights shortly.
(Additional reporting Moneyweb)
