Johannesburg – CemAir is pleased that the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has lifted, with immediate effect, the suspension of CemAir’s Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) approval.
SACAA announced on Saturday that it has lifted, with immediate effect, the suspension of CemAir’s AMO approval.
This was after CemAir’s successful completion of a five-phase certification process that included, among others, document evaluation and demonstration phases.
In addition, the SACAA has lifted the grounding of CemAir’s Dash-8 Q400 aircraft. The aircraft is one of Bombardier’s flagship products offering turbo-prop short-field performance with jet-like speeds and comfort. CemAir will be operating the aircraft on selected domestic routes.
CemAir’s newest addition to its fleet, the 90-seat CRJ900 is also due for imminent release into operation. As the "big brother" to CemAir’s 50-seat CRJ 100/200 fleet, the CRJ900 is an impressive aircraft which is extremely popular in the North American and European markets, but is the first of its variant registered in South Africa.
The SACAA has committed to expediting the inspection and release back into operation of the remaining grounded aircraft.
"Whilst CemAir has successfully regained its AMO approval privileges, the status quo relating to their 12 aircraft remains the same - meaning that the aircraft are yet to be declared as airworthy by the SACAA and released back to service," SACAA said in a statement.
Step in right direction
"Notwithstanding, the lifting of the AMO suspension is a step in the right direction and means the operator is now able to officially maintain its own as well as other operators’ aircraft for which it has approval."
This also means that CemAir is now able to speed up the process of getting more of its aircraft ready for inspection by SACAA officials. The aircraft will be released back into operation once they are certified as airworthy, said SACAA.
The SACAA will continue to guide the operator to ensure that all the commitments outlined in their Corrective Action Plan are met.
“The safety and well-being of our customers, our people and our aircraft is our top priority” said Miles van der Molen, CEO of CemAir.
“For this reason, we are working closely with SACAA and based on the progress achieved to date we expect to return to full operations soon.”
He thanked Cemair's customers for their patience and loyalty.
"I am sorry that we have let you down during this period. We are working hard to return to full capacity within the next two weeks and in the interim, where possible, chartering third party aircraft to enhance capacity,” said Van der Molen.
CemAir’s safety compliance has been recognised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which requires all of its members to pass its comprehensive and globally benchmarked biennial IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). CemAir renewed its IOSA accreditation last September and is on the IOSA register of approved airlines.
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