TEN months after the
grounding of CemAir, the
airline could finally be days
away from being able to fly
again. Consumer confidence
is at an all-time low, however,
with agents and passengers
reporting that refunds – which
the airline promised would
take eight weeks to process –
remaining outstanding.
CemAir was grounded during
December by the SACAA but
eventually won its appeal
against the authority in June.
Despite this, the airline did not
resume flights, saying that it
had to renew its Air Operator
Certificate (AOC) which had
expired during the grounding
period.
Ceo of CemAir, Miles van
der Molen, told TNW that
the airline had expected
to receive its AOC last
week but that this deadline
had slipped to next week
because the “internal
process” was not complete.
Miles was adamant that the
airline would announce its
schedule and start date as
soon as its AOC was in hand.
Spokesperson for the
SA Civil Aviation Authority,
Kabelo Ledwaba, responded,
saying that the SACAA was
almost at a final stage of
its review, which had been
treated as a priority from
day one. He said the
authority hoped to conclude
the matter in the next few
days, adding that it would not
bypass regulated process
due to an attempt to exert
pressure on it through media
platforms.
Next week: But what
about the refunds?
