In the beginning

In 1946 Commercial Air Services began operating with its charter flight from Rand Airport in Germiston, to Durban. Who would have thought that idle chatter amongst three South African Air Force pilots in the middle of the Egyptian desert would become South Africa's longest operating airline after the national carrier?

JMS Martin, Leon Zimmerman and AC Joubert had laid down the foundations for a business that would offer pilot training, a charter service, and possibly the sale of an occasional aircraft (this was developed into a long relationship between Comair and the Cessna Aircraft Company).

From charter services to scheduled flights

Commercial Air Services began by operating Fairchild UC-78's (found in Cairo after the war) as a charter service to some of the remotest places in Africa. New South African Aviation regulations in 1948 allowed for Comair to begin its first scheduled service using a new Cessna model 195. Carrying a pilot and four passengers, the Cessna followed the daily return route from Johannesburg to Durban via Kroonstad, Odendaalsrust, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem and Ladysmith. However, a regulated service was not a commercially viable option for Comair at this time, and when Government support was rejected, it was announced that the service must end. As luck would have it, the Anglo American Corporation approached Comair to keep the service - at least to the Free State Goldfields - and agreed to subsidise the losses within reason. Thus Comair continued to operate a scheduled route, and so secured its future existence.

Growing in the domestic and regional market

Over the next few decades, Comair continued to operate as a successful organisation and entered the main domestic routes in 1992, operating with Boeing 737-200's and Fokker aircraft and carrying almost 100,000 people a year. At this stage, the route network included services to Cape Town, Durban, Richards Bay, Skukuza, Manzini, Gabarone and Harare, with 200 departures per week. The target market was predominantly leisure passengers' with safari packages available to book directly with Comair.

The emergence of British Airways Comair

In 1996, Comair Limited underwent major changes when it became a franchise partner with British Airways. On the 27th of October 1996, Comair became known as British Airways Comair, and took on the colors and livery of British Airways (Plc). Currently under the British Airways banner, services are operated from Johannesburg to Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Harare, Victoria Falls, Livingstone and Windhoek, and between Cape Town and Durban.

Growing the market with kulula.com

In July 2001, Comair Limited launched South Africa's first low-fare carrier called kulula.com.  With daily flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town, kulula.com quickly proved they had found a recipe for success.  In the same year they introduced a new route and started flying between Johannesburg and Durban. In the year to follow, kulula.com upgraded their fleet of Boeing 727's to 737-400's and replaced their entire fleet with the more cost efficient MD-82's in December 2003.  In just over two short years kulula.com has grown the domestic travel market by more than 10% and operates more than 600 flights a month, including flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban, George and Port Elizabeth, and a costal route Cape Town to Durban.

Expanding the kulula.com brand

Just one year after they launched, kulula.com made another addition to the family and introduced kulula.com/cars - a low cost, no fuss car rental service which offers travellers the option to rent a car with no hidden costs. In January 2004 kulula.com introduced two new products: kulula.com/bed offers affordable accommodation for passengers travelling with kulula.com, while kulula.com/cabs offers a chauffeur drive service to and from the airport. Since their inception, kulula.com has been extremely successful in serving the more cost conscious consumer with its affordable fares, and easy booking processes, making travel more accessible to the South African public.

Conclusion

For more than 50 years, Comair Limited has provided a product and service of consistent value, reliability and professionalism, and now carries as average of 1.8 million passengers per annum locally and regionally with British Airways and kulula.com. It is the reputation of quality, and passion for service that will ensure Comair Limited, operating as British Airways and kulula.com, continues to play a major role in the South African aviation industry.

Timeline 

1943 Commercial Air Services is registered as a company by World War II Airforce colleagues, Air Force pilots A C Joubert, JMS Martin, L Zimmerman, Colonel J D Human.
1945 Comair is appointed Cessna distributor in South Africa as the end of hostilities again makes civilian aircraft building possible.
1946 Ten Fairchild aircraft based in Egypt are purchased for £1,000 each with financial help from the National Industrial Credit Corporation.
1946 After flying the aircraft from Cairo to Johannesburg, the first Comair charter flight takes to the air on the Germiston-Durban route on 14 July 1946.
1946 Charter business expands as subsidiary companies are established in Rhodesia and Natal using the company's Fairchild fleet.
1948 Scheduled air services start using a Cessna Model 195 single-engine aircraft.  Carrying capacity: four passengers and a pilot;  cruising speed: 165 mph.  The route is from Rand Airport via Kroonstad, Odendaalsrust, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem and Ladysmith to Durban with a daily return flight.
1949 Daily return service starts between Rand Airport and Welkom Goldfield backed by giant Anglo American Corporation.
1949 Two De Havilland Rapide Aircraft bought from Central African Airways in Salisbury for use on the Welkom route.  Passengers seating: now eight.
1951 Two De Havilland Doves are acquired to introduce added speed and comfort on the route.  Cost of maintenance however, soars and Comair investigate alternatives.
1953 Two Lockheed Lodestars are purchased.  Passengers seating now seventeen, and profits start to take off.
1963 A Dakota DC3 enters the Comair hangar as a result of a Canadian purchase.
1963 Daily service to Phalaborwa comes into operation.
1964 A Swissair DC3 is acquired to accommodate the growing traffic on the Welkom and Phalaborwa routes.
1965 A third DC3, previously owned by Alitalia, is added to the fleet.
1967 In conjunction with Letaba Safaris, Comair Fly-in Safaris to game reserves in South Africa are introduced.
1968 A fourth DC3 is bought from Austrian Airlines.
1969 A franchise is concluded for the Learjet enabling Comair to enter the jet era - a far cry from the slow aircraft with which it first took to the skies.
1969 Comair starts its regular air service to Skukuza.  Letaba safaris is taken over and renamed Comair Safaris.
1974 One of the Lockheed Lodestars bought in 1953 is donated to the Kempton Park Technical Institute to help in the education of aircraft engineers.  Subsequently, the Lodestar is housed at the Air Force Museum at Klapperkop.
1976 Comair moves headquarters from Rand Airport to the new premises at Jan Smuts International Airport.
1976 The first Fokker F27 Friendship 44-seater propjet is purchased from Ansett Airlines in Australia.
1977 The F27 is introduced on the Skukuza route, reducing flying time by a third compared with the Dakota.
1977 Cabin service is introduced for the first time on Comair flights.
1980 Two additional F27 aircraft are purchased from Ansett in Australia.
1980 Comair starts the first regular charter service to Sun City.
1981 The company commences, on behalf of SAA, a twice daily service between Durban and Richards Bay.
1981 Also for SAA, Comair starts a Johannesburg / Richards Bay air route on a twice-weekly basis.
1981 Comair establishes its own training centre for cabin staff.
1982 Two Dakota DC3's are sold to Ethiopian Airlines.
1983 Comair's highly successful Margate service is started on 16 September, 1983.
1984 February sees the inaugural flight of the new Comair Pietermaritzburg service from Jan Smuts Airport.
1984 The company introduces its computerised reservation facility.
1986 Comair, in terms of an agreement with SAA, starts to operate the Gabarone route - the first time a private carrier is allowed to operate a main arterial route outside the Republic's borders.
1992 Comair, in terms of the deregulated market, enters the Johannesburg / Cape Town route with a Boeing 737-200 aircraft.  During the same year, Comair also introduces as F28-4000 aircraft to provide three return services per day on the Johannesburg / Cape Town route.
1993 Comair introduces a Boeing 737-200 service on the Johannesburg / Durban route, providing two return flights per day.
1994 Comair is successful in being awarded flight frequencies on the Johannesburg / Harare route which service is introduced during the second quarter of 1994.
1995 Comair acquires two more B737's, two ATR-42's and a leased 727-200.  Returns Fokker F28's to manufacturers.  Adds Windhoek to regional network.
1996

50 years service to the aviation industry
1996 Comair celebrate their 50th Anniversary.  New headquarters open in Bonaero Park and they begin flying to Hoedspruit.  Comair enters into a franchise agreement with British Airways which commenced 27 October.
1997 Turbo-prop operations discontinued on the routes Richards Bay, Manzini, Gabarone, Skukuza and Hoedspruit.  An agreement was signed with SA Express in terms of which they operated the routes with effective 1 November, 1997.
1997 Agreement signed for 25% shareholding of Sun Air - 18 November 1997.
1999 July 11, Comair commences operating the Cape Town / Durban route - functions in both Durban (Botanical Gardens) and Cape Town (Ratanga Junction) to commemorate the introduction.
1999 July - Resignation from the Sun Air Board by the Comair Directors.
1999 Sun Air discontinues operations on Friday 13 August - SAA acquired the shares of the Black Empowerment Group.
1999 July - two Boeing 737-200 are purchased from British Airways (Plc).
1999 11 August, 1999, British Airways opens the Executive Club departure lounge in the domestic departures terminal at Johannesburg International Airport, with the British Airways global "Terraces" theme.
1999 The first service to Lusaka in Zambia commenced on the 31 October with two return services per week.
1999 British Airways is voted Best Domestic Airline by ASATA (Association of South African Travel Agents).
2000 British Airways acquire an 18.3% shareholding in the company by purchasing the shares held by Gensec and CNI.
2000 British Airways introduces a service to Lilongwe, Malawi, in March 2000, which is suspended in November of the same year.
2000 British Airways introduces product benefits including more legroom than any other domestic carrier - a seat pitch in Club (business class) of 39 inches, and 34 inches in Traveller (economy class).  Other benefits include branded onboard catering, free valet parking for selected passengers, kerbside check-in and Terraces Lounges at Cape Town and Durban airports.
2000 British Airways is voted Best Domestic Airline by ASATA for the second year running.
2001 In April, Comair commissions a new simulator.
2001 The Comair Operations Team moves into the new Ops Simulator building in May 2001.
2001 South Africa's first no-frills airline, kulula.com, launches 1 August, 2001, with three return flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town.  Bookings can we made via the website or the kulula.com Call Centre.
2001 kulula.com introduces two return flights between Johannesburg and Durban, and increases frequency on the Johannesburg / Cape Town route.
2001 British Airways is voted Best Domestic Airline by ASATA for the third consecutive year.
2002 kulula.com launches kulula.com/cars - 19 August, 2002, with Imperial.  This includes an all-in rate (including contract fees, insurance, kilometres and the daily rate).
2002 kulula.com upgrades to as new state of the art fleet of Boeing 737-400's.
2002 British Airways operated by Comair Limited, enters into a codeshare agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, effective 21 October, 2002.
2002 Four cadets from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, sponsored by Comair Limited, graduate with flying colours from 43 Air School in Port Alfred.
2002 kulula.com is voted "Best Domestic Airline" by ACSA for 2002.
2003 Passengers travelling on kulula.com are allowed to change their bookings online from April 2003.
2003 kulula.com introduces two new routes from 22 April, 2003 - Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, and between Durban and Cape Town.
2003 For the first time ever in history, British Airways flies all female crew into Lusaka, Zambia, and back on 21 May, 2003.
2003 British Airways relaunches the global Executive Club programme, adding additional benefits and global consistency to the frequent flyer scheme.
2003 From July, 2003, kulula.com joins forces with Khaya car hire, to run their fleet of cars.
2003 On 31 July, kulula.com lists onto the main travel agents bookings system, Galileo.  Bookings can now be made on their GDS and from anywhere in the world.
2003 kulula.com adds yet another route to its network with a daily return flight from Johannesburg to George effective 22 August, 2003.
2003 British Airways, as part of the ongoing fleet replacement programme, acquires, with financial assistance from Investec Bank, three B737-300 aircraft from Qantas Airways, to be delivered in August, September and October 2003.  The aircraft are valued at R200 million
2003 Effective 1 October, Comair Limited, having successfully complied with the specified criteria, is granted Proudly South African status.
2003 Comair Limited's Boeing 737 flight simulator training facility expands to provide training for various domestic and international airlines, thereby creating an additional revenue source.
2003 December - kulula.com replaces its entire fleet with four MD82's.  One new jet will be phased in every month until March 2004. 
2004 January - British Airways is granted permission to operate 3 weekly return flights between Johannesburg and Livingstone.  The service begins 28 March, 2004.
2004 kulula.com launches kulula.com/beds on 29 January 2004.  Just R300 per room per night with Protea Hotels.
2004 On the same day (29 January) kulula.com introduces kulula.com/cabs - a chauffeur service to and from the airport for just R150 one way.
2004 02 February - British Airways Comair introduces a codeshare agreement with Spanish national carrier, Iberia on domestic routes within South Africa.
2004 March - British Airways is voted the "Best Domestic Airline" for the fourth time in five years, by the ASATA Congress.
2004 8 March - Computicket jumps onboard with kulula.com to offer ticket sales through their branches.  This is the first deal of its kind that allows "non travel agents" to sell air tickets, cars, cabs and beds.
2004 The inaugural British Airways Invitational golf event is held in Cape Town at Clovelly Country Club, 18 March. Invited guests include corporate clients, travel managers, partners, suppliers, sub-sponsors and top BA management.
2004 14 May - British Airways and kulula.com are involved in "Air to Air" photography. An L39 Albatross military plane in camouflage colours follows a British Airways Boeing 737-300, and a kulula.com MD82 for the first 15 minutes after take-off. The flight path was amended to use the scenic background that only the Cape can offer, to the best advantage.
2004 May - A 2002 Cederberg Shiraz wins the British Airways trophy for the best Shiraz, at the renowned Trophy Wine show at the Vineyard Hotel.
2004 2 June - kulula.com's 5th aircraft arrives in bold green livery, a 737-200. This jet will be used as a filler for aircraft in service of having maintenance done.
2004 17 June - the British Airways Invitational golf event for the Durban region is held at the Royal Durban Country Club.
2004 7 July - kulula.com sales reach as all time high, with 40 million online sales made to date. The market reflects a 20% increase for air travel.
2004 In July, British Airways introduces "Purchase Miles Online" through ba.com, allowing Executive Club members to reach their redemption thresholds sooner.
2004 kulula.com celebrates their 3rd birthday on 1 August. Birthday fares offered at R233 between JNB and DUR, and R333 all other routes. 3333 seats are made available for the special.
2004 British Airways announce e-ticketing through all travel agent bookings for domestic routes, effective 2 August.
2004 24 August - The British Airways Invitational golf event for the Johannesburg region is held at The Country Club, Johannesburg.
2004 September - British Airways announces its involvement, along with BMW, to sponsor the South African Polo Association, to promote the game at all levels, within South Africa.
2004 kulula.com launched 'Biz Deals' - a step towards accommodating its new expanding business market. Biz Deals are aimed at reducing company travel costs, after research indicates that 50% of travel on kulula flights is for business purposes.
2004 23 September - kulula launches the CHOC plane, painted in cow print. The plane is a 737-500, and is painted to raise awareness of the Cow Parade - kulula's chosen social responsibility organization for 2004/2005.
2004 October - Comair unveils the only Boeing 737-300/400/500 simulator of its kind in South Africa. The Simulator was purchased from Lufthansa at a cost of R20 million, and brought to South Africa in August 2004.
2004 12 October - Passengers are able to print an Online Boarding Card via ba.com, for all domestic flights departing from JIA.
2004 13 October - The British Airways Invitational Final takes place at Champagne Sports Resort in the Central Drakensberg.
2004 14 October - British Airways launches "Payment Online" for South Africa. Passengers can now pay for tickets on ba.com.
2004 15 October - FENG (Fare Explorer Next Generation) goes live on ba.com. Feng's best feature is that it searches for the best available fare seven days before, and seven days after, the date requested, allowing passengers to quickly view and choose their ideal combination of fare and flight.
2004 1 November - the new Comair intranet, iNSITE, is launched.
2004 1 November - kulula launches 2 new routes - CPT/PLZ and DUR/PLZ, bridging the gap between SA's key coastal cities.
2004 A massive ba.com campaign is launched in November, to staff and consumers.
2004 1 November - kulula.com introduces kulula.com/kicks - the option to book an experience or adventure (such as shark-cage diving or a trip to a health spa), with a kulula flight.
2005 January - kulula.com receive 2 more MD 85 aircraft. The fleet now consists of 5 aircraft in total. Each new plane is painted on its own unique livery
2005 27 January - kulula.com introduce a discounted rate for the South African Police Service. All the members and there immediate families can now travel on kulula.com to any of our destinations for only R199 per passenger one way all in.
2005 1 February - kulula.com introduces 2 new routes - JNB/ELS and CPT/GRJ making kulula.com's network a total of 9 routes.
2005 8 March - Introduce new benefit to kulula.com/cabs users. In addition to 'airport cabs' on offer as a pick-up and drop off service. Passengers can now get a pick up and drop off service to anywhere they want. They can now call 08611 CABS.
2005 15 March - British Airways launches additional flights to LVI on Mon and Thurs, effective 1 July. This means BA is selling 5 return flights per week between JNB and LVI.
2005 March - British Airways is voted the "Best Domestic Airline" for the fifth time in six years, by ASATA.
2005 14 April - Introduce a new 'week-end' rate to kulula.com/cars. Now passengers can get a more affordable rate on the week-ends.
2005 1 May - kulula.com transports their 3 millionth passenger. The passenger was met at JIA with a warm thank you, and a little bubbly to celebrate.
2005 1 May - kulula.com signs up as the loerie awards official national airline. The offer to our fans is R448 return between Jo'Burg and Durban and R688 return between Cape Town and Durban.
2005 19 May - Hand over a million Rand cheque to CHOC, for money raised for cowparade.
2005 27 May - kulula.com introduce Nelspruit/Mpumalanga to our route network, flying into KMIA 8 times a week, with an introduction fare of R299 one way all in. This new addition helps kulula.com take their overall network total to 10 routes, with 300 flights per week.
2005 27 May - kulula.com partners with flympumalanga.com, which is a public-private partnership aimed at boosting Mpumalanga's tourism. FlyMpumalanga.com offers tourists a single package and price for all amenities and places of interest in the province.
2005 June - British Airways purchased four new stage 3 compliant Boeing 737-300's.
2005 June - British Airways announced its continued support of Eastern Cape rugby by sponsoring a further four schools in the under privileged communities of Sommerset East, Grahamstown, Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth.
2005 5 July - kulula.com has an increased demand for charter flights between Cape Town and Hoedspruit, Hoedspruit to Jo'Burg. An American organisation named "Young Presidents Organisation", make use of this service - they have chartered 2 kulula.com aircrafts for 300 passengers.
2005 September - e-Ticketing available on the British Airways JNB-LVI and JNB-VFA routes.
2005 01 October - British Airways implements "Zero Percent Commission" to the trade.
2005 October - British Airways goes into an agreement with TBM to install plasma screens in the Terraces - the objective is to generate revenue through third party advertising.