History
The airline was founded by World War II South African Air Force (SAAF) colleagues AC Joubert, JMS Martin, L Zimmerman and JDW Human and incorporated on 17 December 1943 as Commercial Air Services. The company began charter operations on 15 June 1946 using Fairchild F-24/UC-61K Argus Mk III aircraft. Scheduled services between Rand Airport, Johannesburg and Durban began on 1 July 1948, using a Cessna Model 195.
The airline grew over the next decades, to the point where it was able to start service on major domestic routes in 1992, using Boeing 737-200 aircraft. In addition to domestic flights to destinations such as Cape Town and Durban, it also offered a few international flights in Southern Africa, e.g. to Gaborone and Harare.
A franchise agreement with British Airways was signed in 1996 and in early 2000 British Airways acquired a minority holding. It was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in July 1998. The airline is owned by the management (25%), institutions and public (52%), International Airlines Group/British Airways (18%) and employees (5%) and has 1,447 employees (at March 2007).
In 2001, kulula.com was set up. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comair and was set up as a low-cost airline.
On 6 September 2007, Comair extended its franchise agreement with British Airways for a further 11 years.
Read more about this topic: Comair (South Africa)
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