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It’s been a busy week for Comair.
The airline first cryptically announced that it was in talks that could lead to an acquisition, which led to a frenzy of interest and speculation in the local aviation sector.
Then later in the week, the airline was hit by a strike.
Earlier this year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced that the government was looking to merge SAA and SA Express and sell a minority stake.
Comair has few private sector rivals in the local aviation space other than the state-owned airlines.
These rivals include FlySafair and SA Airlink. However, acquiring these airlines might pose an issue, as it might reduce competition in the local airline market.
Rodger Foster, SA Airlink CEO, said this week that SA Airlink was not talking to “Comair or any other party”.
Kirby Gordon, FlySafair vice-president of sales and distribution, said that FlySafair was not involved in talks with Comair.
“FlySafair confirms that it is not for sale and that the recent Comair acquisition [announcement] has nothing to do with it,” FlySafair said.
It previously said it would gladly buy SAA’s lower-cost carrier Mango – if the government was interested in selling the airline.
Away from Comair’s major competitors, smaller aviation players such as Solenta Aviation, Fly Blue Crane and Cemair were also mentioned by industry sources as possible Comair acquisition targets.
Solenta Aviation boss Mark Hurst was not available to comment on Friday.
A Fly Blue Crane spokesperson said that the airline, which launched in September and has OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg as its hub, was not in talks with Comair.
Staff at Comair were not able to comment.
If it’s not buying a local airline, Comair could be looking to acquire an airline in the rest of Africa, especially a regional airline with southern African schedules such as FastJet, or elsewhere in the world. Or it could be looking at expanding its interests away from its core airline business to other related aviation interests.
Industry sources said the most likely option that Comair could be looking at would be expanding its interests away from its core airline business to other aviation interests.
For instance, Comair has a travel and holiday packaging service, airport lounges at OR Tambo International Airport, an on-board catering unit and a pilot-training centre.
Susan van der Ryst, a Comair spokesperson, declined to comment on any details regarding an acquisition that the airline was considering.
Bidvest, which has a stake of about 26% in Comair, is unbundling and splitting into three companies.
Bidvest has aviation-related interests including Bid Air Group, Bid Air Services, Bid Air Cargo, Bidvest Premier Lounge and Bidvest Sky Lounge.
City Press approach Bidvest this week and asked the group whether it was in talks to sell Comair some or all of the above assets.
A Bidvest spokesperson said the group had no comment to make.
In another development, a strike at Comair started late on Wednesday afternoon after the United Association of SA (Uasa) was issued with a strike certificate by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration earlier this month after the union declared a deadlock related to annual wage negotiations.
Uasa, which has a 58% membership in the airport unit, is requesting a 35% increase over three years, while Comair was offering a 7.5% increase over three years, or 22.5% over a three-year period.
Comair estimated that 80 of its staff members had downed tools.
“Approximately 65 to 70 employees peacefully picketed at the company’s head office in Bonaero Park in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni ... However, a significant
number of staff reported for duty,” Comair said.
“We have every intention to continue with our daily operations and have extensive contingency plans in place,” said Comair CEO Erik Venter.
Van der Ryst said that the Uasa strike was still continuing on Friday afternoon. – Additional reporting by Avantika Seeth
