The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has found irregularities during a recent oversight inspection, or audit, of South African Airways Technical (SAAT). SAAT is the maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary of the State-owned South African Airways (SAA) group.

As a consequence, a number of airliners belonging both to SAA and to local private-sector airline group Comair have been grounded. Comair operates the British Airways (within South Africa) and Kulula low cost carrier brands.

The grounded aircraft will all have to undergo inspection and, if necessary, corrective action, before they will be allowed to return to service. SAA had to cancel four domestic flights, while other domestic flights had to be combined and operated by larger aircraft, unaffected by the groundings. Comair has reported that it has contingency plans in place and will seek to minimise disruption to its passengers. Both airlines have apologised to their customers for any inconvenience.

“SAA understands that the inspection conducted by the SACAA was in accordance with its regulations and a necessary exercise to ensure compliance and safety,” said the airline in its press release. In its media statement, Comair stated that “[w]e are working closely with SAAT to rectify the findings and getting our flights back on schedule as soon as possible”.

“Comair is committed to providing a safe, secure, reliable and quality airline service to its customers,” it added. “The safety and security of our customers and personnel is our foremost priority and is never compromised.”

In April, Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International’s new facility at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport started line maintenance of Comair’s Boeing 737-800 fleet. This had previously been done by SAAT. However, SAAT was meant to continue to provide certain maintenance services to Comair.