British Airways / Comair
Comair is an airline based in South Africa. It operates scheduled services on domestic trunk routes as a British Airways franchisee and an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. Its main base is OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, with hubs at Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport, Durban.
The airline was established and started operations on 14 July 1946 as Commercial Air Services. It was founded by Second World War South African Air Force colleagues AC Joubert, JMS Martin, L Zimmerman and JD Human. Scheduled services between Rand Airport, Johannesburg and Durban began in 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.
