EMBATTLED CemAir will take
off on November 8, after 11
months of being grounded.
But agents and passengers
are still waiting for refunds for
un-flown flights over the festive
season last year.
The first route to be
reinstated, just ahead of
the peak holiday period, is
Margate. The airline has hinted
that Plettenberg Bay may be
next.
CemAir has received
its renewed Air Operator
Certificate (AOC) from the
South African Civil Aviation
Authority (SACAA), allowing it
to start operating commercial
flights on its South Africanregistered aircraft. CemAir’s
grounding by SACAA in
December 2018 was
overturned in court on April 29
but the airline was not able to
resume flights at the time as
its AOC had expired during the
grounding period. The airline
has been working with the
SACAA for this renewal for the
last six months.
The airline is expected to
announce its schedule in the
coming week and hinted that
Margate and Plettenberg Bay
would be the first routes to
be reinstated ahead of the
upcoming holiday season.
Where’s the money?
But agents and passengers
are still asking about refunds
that the airline initially
promised to pay back within
eight weeks. “We continue to
process refunds and can now
(at a customer’s election) offer
a credit toward future travel,”
said CemAir in a statement.
When TNW pressed CemAir
ceo, Miles van der Molen,
for an indication of how many
refunds were still outstanding
and when he expected the
process to be completed, he
said: “It’s difficult to track
because the outstanding
claims are not all settled
directly.”
ITC Rene Toner says she
has been on a wild goose
chase since the beginning of
the year. Rene initially followed
up on her client’s refund in
February when, according to
a communication from the
airline, the refunds should
already have been paid out.
CemAir then asked Rene
to complete a new refund
application, which it said
would be processed in 56
days. During April, when Rene
followed up, they asked her
to complete a third refund
application together with proof
of bank details. In July, Rene
finally received an email from
them advising that the refunds
had been logged.
“Please note that we are
awaiting final settlement from
Iata, which will be round about
the second period of August.
Once we have received same,
we will continue to process the
refunds,” CemAir said in an
email to Rene.
However, Iata spokesperson
Perry Flint confirmed to TNW
that Iata had already remitted
all outstanding amounts to
CemAir.
Rene followed up yet again in
August. CemAir responded on
September 4 saying the airline
was still battling a massive
backlog and it could not give
her a definite date of payment.
Direct passengers don’t
seem to be having any more
luck. The airline has a onestar rating on hellopeter.
com with ongoing complaints
being logged by dozens of
passengers who have still not
received their refunds. Theresa
Robertson, a direct passenger
who is still waiting to be paid
back, says her emails to the
airline have gone unanswered
for months now.
Travel consultant Charmaine
Lombard of Dana Agency
says she received one batch
of refunds around March this
year and expects to receive
the remaining eight very soon.
Charmaine says she would still
try to support the airline if it
started flying again.
