Cemair licence withdrawn
 

Sounds kind of scary

Ouch! That is going to screw a lot of people. Hope it’s temporary.

Cemair's license is unaffected from what I have read from SACAA's release. The CoA for 12 of their aircraft has been suspended due to their contracted AMO using non-qualified staff to certify maintenance.

The airline have issued a press release refuting the allegations made by the SACAA. Their aircraft remain grounded.

I would imagine today's meeting between the two may not be overly friendly.

Is their other airlines?
By road? But the accident rate on RSA roads is horrific compared to western countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CemAir

We are due to go from JNB to Hoedspruit in a group of 4. Options are to use SAA (that had very similar issues a few years back - all resolved within around 24hrs) or go by road. I would prefer to use Cemair if possible. I can book a road transfer with a reputable company (Blacklane) that is fully flexible until an hour before and for 4 pax works out cheaper than 4 tickets with SAA. I will book the road option and hope to cancel it. The return will be from Hoedspruit to Cape Town for 2 of us and I will probably go ahead and book with SAA if this is not resolved by the start of next week.

As far as I understand, CemAir are reaccommodating all clients onto other airlines while the case is being assessed. Their own statement reads: "In the interim the airline is making alternate arrangements for passengers where possible. We are working closely with other carriers to accommodate our passengers with minimum inconvenience" and from what I have heard they are being very helpful to passengers who are booked with them.

My understanding is that they are doing a pretty good job - as always social media gives a spectrum of experiences and opinions. Since a alternative options may have limited capacity and we are connecting to and from international flights I hope it gets resolved before too much longer - if not I will feel happier with firm alternatives. I have just contacted them and the response is that they hope to be operating by Monday but that they are not sure yet.

This in the tourism update this evening "CemAir is sub-chartering an aircraft to operate its Hoedspruit flights with immediate effect, until such time as its 12 aircraft all have their Certificates of Airworthiness reinstated."

That is really good news - thanks. It would be a good idea if they mentioned this on the website or in their press releases.

CemAir has resumed limited operations per their Facebook page (can't seem to add the link, sorry.)

Please note Cemair has resumed limited schedule and the following flights will be operated over the next few days:

Saturday and Sunday

Johannesburg to Plettenberg Bay
Plettenberg Bay to Johannesburg
Johannesburg to Margate
Margate to Johannesburg

Monday
Margate to Johannesburg
Johannesburg to Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein to Johannesburg
Johannesburg to Plettenberg Bay

Tuesday
Plettenberg Bay to Cape town
Cape town to Plettenberg Bay
Plettenberg Bay to Johhanesburg

I'm not sure if it is a FT restriction because you have a low number of posts or not. But it showed up when I quoted your message.

There was also this posted on their website about the progress of the regulatory review.

http://www.flycemair.co.za/other/201...ment_18h30.pdf

Hopefully it will be sorted soon. Cemair have been slow to post any details - in general they seem to communicate via Facebook in the main. Although they have run a charter service on their routes to and from Hoedspruit they have consolidated the JNB and CPT routes leading to significant changes in timings (in the main significant delays) . There have been some complaints on Facebook that passengers have not been informed. I took the decision to move to SAA as a 2 to 3 hour delay to my arrival times would be very inconvenient. The whole process must be costing them a fortune and I wonder how much longer they can absorb this?

Cemair AMO suspension lifted
 

"CemAir has confirmed that The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has lifted, with immediate effect, the suspension of CemAir’s Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) approval."

Source

Johan