Kulula set for take-off

Comair says that its aircraft will be back in the skies from 1 September as planned, following a temporary suspension of services in response to the adjusted Level 4 lockdown and low demand for air travel.

The airline, which operates Kulula and British Airways, suspended services on Monday 5 July following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of an adjusted Level 4 lockdown.

The lockdown regulations prohibited all non-essential travel into and out of Gauteng as a result of a surge in Covid-19 cases linked to the now-dominant Delta variant.

Comair said it is now preparing its aircraft, flight and cabin crews, and airport personnel to ensure a seamless restart of services.

During the suspension, Comair’s revenue management team has been working on some new, flexible fare options to better meet customers’ differing requirements.

Called “Travel Your Way”, the three bundled affordable Kulula fare offerings promises to let 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 travellers’ 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.

Comair marketing executive Brian Kitchin said that temporarily suspending flights was the right decision while Covid-19 cases peaked and the 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,” said Kitchin.

“Flying is what we do and we’re eager to take off again and provide South African travellers with compelling products and competitive fares.”

British Airways will re-launch its Johannesburg/Mauritius route operating two flights a week from 30 November. It plans to add a third flight in future.

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