CemAir grounded

No planes belonging to private airline CemAir will be boarded until the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has finalized its renewal audit against the private airline. This comes after the operator’s fleet were 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 and Sishen Kathu were stranded. Following the grounding of all its fleet, the airline operator then appealed the SACAA’s decision through the Aviation tribunal, which on Tuesday last week, then 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, says that the whether or not the airline speedily resumes its operations will be dependent on the airline's cooperation with the authority.