An announcement made this past Wednesday that Comair will once again take to the skies from 01 September 2021 is welcome news for South Africa’s travel industry.
Comair, the airline that operates kulula.com and British Airways, has confirmed that it will resume flights this coming week after suspending its services from 05 July 2021. The move was in response to the adjusted Level 4 lockdown that prohibited all non-essential travel in and out of Gauteng, which resulted in significantly lower demand for air travel.
Brian Kitchin, Comair’s marketing executive, believes temporarily suspending flights was the right decision while Covid-19 cases peaked during the third wave and South Africa’s vaccination programme gained momentum.
“It wasn’t an easy call to make because of the impact on our customers and employees, but we’ve used the time well, innovating a new fare offering preparing for the restart and looking to re-open more routes such as Mauritius. Flying is what we do and we’re eager to take off again and provide South African travellers with compelling products and competitive fares,” says Brian.
Refreshed take
Comair is coming back online with what it says is a new and flexible fare offering that will better meet its market’s requirements.
According to a statement sent on behalf of Comair, the airline “is now preparing its aircraft, flight and cabin crews and airport personnel to ensure a seamless restart of services.”
Comair’s Travel Your Way campaign allows travellers the choice between three bundled kulula.com fare options, meaning customers pay only for what they need. They are*:
• Fly Light: A hop-on, hop-off option for those with only cabin bags offering the best possible fares. A change of booking fee of R299 applies.
• Pack & Go: An all-round option to suit most traveller’s needs including one piece of checked luggage weighing up to 20kg and two free booking changes.
• Fully Loaded: A fully flexible option allowing unlimited booking changes, two checked bags and Q-Jump to speed up check-in procedures.
Meanwhile, British Airways will resume flights between Johannesburg and Mauritius from 30 November 2021. The airline will fly this route twice a week, with plans to add a third flight in future.
*Fare difference may apply to free booking changes.
