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Business Times reports that Comair’s decision last week to go into business rescue sent shockwaves through the aviation industry because it has consistently delivered annual profits.
The prevailing view in aviation circles is if this could happen to Comair, which is solvent, it could happen to anyone. Comair is the first high-profile victim of Covid-19 in the industry, notwithstanding that state-owned SA Airways (SAA) went the business rescue route in December 2019, but that was before the onset of the pandemic. Calls are now increasing for a special government intervention to help keep the SA aviation industry afloat, with low-cost airline FlySafair maintaining that it was imperative that the industry receive clarity from the state “in terms of intervention into this industry”. Kirby Gordon of Safair, which owns FlySafair, indicated: Help from the state can come in a number of ways. It could be relief on charges from state-owned entities, which are in a better position to lend against government guarantees — so we could look to have our cash flow preserved and temporarily improve our margins to claw back in more viable timelines if relief is granted by the likes of Airports Company SA, Air Traffic Navigation Services, SA Weather Service, and the Civil Aviation Authority.” Chris Zweigenthal of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa advised that they had written to the government requesting aid for the industry.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nick Wilson at BusinessLive
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