The South African Competition Commission says it has taken note of Comair’s declaration that all British Airways and kulula.com flights will be effectively suspended with immediate effect, a decision that will severely limit capacity in domestic air travel and reduce competition.
Comair, which owns kulula.com and operates British Airways under a license arrangement in the United Kingdom, halted flights on Tuesday night while it sought money to resume operations.
Siyabulela Makunga, a spokesperson for the Competition Commission, said the commission met individually with the leaders of major airlines Lyft, FlySafair, Airlink, and South African Airways on Wednesday (SAA).
The meeting was called because the commission expressed worry about Comair’s decision’s influence on air ticket costs. It wanted to know how capacity could be supplied to the market to offset the decision’s impact.
“Specifically, the commission sought to prevent any possible price gouging emanating from the supply shock.
“The commission was encouraged by the positive response of all the airlines in this respect, as they acknowledged the need to bring in more capacity in the market and committed not to change their pricing methodologies to exploit the situation,” Makunga said.
He also stated that all sides recognize the issues posed by growing fuel prices, which would increase the expense of aviation travel.
The commission stated that it will continue to keep a close eye on the situation.