This comes after the operator’s fleet was grounded and operating certificates suspended in December last year and again in January earlier this year, following concerns by the Authority over the airline’s alleged failure to properly maintain its control systems. 

As a result, many consumers with paid-for tickets to and from CemAir’s destinations, which include Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Sishen Kathu and Margate, were stranded. 

Following the grounding of its fleet, the airline operator then appealed SACAA’s decision through the Aviation tribunal, which on Tuesday last week, overturned all the notices which had been issued by the authority as it ruled in the airline operator’s favour. 

OFM News spoke to the SACAA’s Director of Civil Aviation, Poppy Khoza, who says whether or not the airline resumes its operations will be dependent on its cooperation with the Authority.

 

Meanwhile, according to TimesLive, speaking to Radio 702 on Tuesday evening, the airline’s CEO, Miles van der Molen, said the CAA’s grounding of its fleet in December, at the height of the festive season, had inconvenienced tens of thousands of people and resulted in many airline staff losing their jobs. The authority had been “completely unreasonable”, he said. 

“We did all we could to satisfy them but there was no way to move it forward.” Asked if the airline planned to sue in light of the appeal committee’s ruling, Van der Molen said he would be calling on the transport minister, Blade Nzimande, to “look at the SACAA and see if it is doing the job it is there to do”. 

“Aviation safety is an honourable goal, but it can be applied too subjectively,” he said. 

In March, the SACAA said CemAir had embarked on a new certification application process, which was subject to the applicable regulatory requirements.

OFM News