CEMAIR has apologised to
customers affected by the
suspension of its services
by the South African Civil
Aviation Authority (SACAA),
and to those left frustrated
by the slow refund process
that followed, saying
all claims had to be
investigated.
This statement was
issued after the Civil
Aviation Appeal
Committee’s (CAAC)
decision on April 29 to
overturn the decision taken
by the SACAA, to ground
and suspend the airline in
December 2018, and again
in January. CemAir believes
its victory at the CAAC
“completely vindicates the
airline and is a clear and
unequivocal confirmation
that no valid safety concern
exists or existed at the
airline”.
As TNW reported in the
issue dated May 15,
CemAir’s operating
certificate expired naturally
during the almost fourmonth appeal process,
meaning that, despite
the CAAC decision,
the airline could not
resume operations. In
its statement, the airline
clarifies that it is working
with the SACAA on the
renewal of its certificate,
but also expressed concern
about how the process
will be handled. CemAir’s
statement reads: “…this
has reached an impasse
as the SACAA intends to
assign the same inspectors
castigated for bias and
incompetence in the CAAC
judgement”.
The airline has called on
the Minister of Transport to
launch an investigation into
the matter.
The SACAA told
TNW that it had noted
comments attributed
to CemAir, describing
them as “predominantly
incorrect”. “The South
African Civil Aviation
Authority will be addressing
these inaccuracies very
comprehensively, either
through a detailed media
statement or media
conference, in the next few
days.”
