Offers are being invited for the share capital of provisionally-liquidated Comair (South Africa), as well as its budget Kulula Air brand, trademarks, air operator's certificate (AOC), and domestic air service license, reports News24.
Chris Monyela of provisional liquidators Sechaba Trust informed the newspaper the administrators had obtained a High Court order lifting the suspension of Comair's domestic operating license, enabling them to complete their statutory duties to dispose of the company's assets.
In January, Sechaba Trust secured a court order extending the court return date for the airline's final liquidation to June 30, 2023, to allow for enough time to advance a potential sale of the company. In an affidavit in December 2022, the provisional liquidators said they had been approached by an unnamed party which was interested in buying the company, including the licenses and intellectual property such as the kulula.com brand. The potential buyer was due to conduct due diligence, expected to take up to four months.
The Department of Transport cancelled Comair's international air service license. It suspended its domestic license, which the provisional liquidators contested because the license and AOC were the most valuable unsecured assets of the defunct airline and therefore held the most potential for a dividend for concurrent creditors.
Comair's fleet valued at about ZAR3.5 billion rand (USD182 million) is encumbered in favour of secured creditors such as banks.
Monyela confirmed that Comair's estate is continuing to pursue USD83 million in damages against Boeing in the US District Court in Seattle, having filed fraud and breach of contract charges against the manufacturer over the purchase of eight B737-8s. Comair had paid Boeing more than USD45 million in advanced payments for seven MAX 8s and full payment on the one it had received. Comair cancelled the order following the worldwide 20-month grounding of the type in the wake of two fatal accidents, but Boeing refused to return the advanced deposits. With additional losses due to the grounding of its sole B737-8, the botched deal cost Comair more than USD83 million and contributed to its financial problems. The airline was provisionally liquidated on June 14, 2022, after its administrators were unable to secure further investment in the 76-year-old airline.
