Sacaa lifts suspension of CemAir’s Aircraft Maintenance Organisation

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) has lifted, with immediate effect, the suspension of CemAir’s Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) approval, Sacaa said in a statement on Saturday.

This after CemAir’s successful completion of a five-phase certification process that included among others, document evaluation and demonstration phases.

The statement read: “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.

“Notwithstanding, the lifting of the AMO suspension is a step in the right direction and means that the operator is now in a position to officially maintain their own as well as other operators’ aircraft for which they are approved. This also means that CemAir is now in a position to hopefully speed up the process of getting more of their aircraft ready for inspection by Sacaa officials. The aircraft will be released back into operation once they are certified as airworthy.”

The Sacca said it also noted that CemAir had put in place measures that sought to enable it as an operator to meet its obligations to their customers.

“In accordance with regulations, nothing prevents CemAir from securing the services of another approved operator to charter or transport passengers on their behalf as the Sacaa did not revoke CemAir’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) – a key requirement in running airline operations.

“The Sacaa acknowledges CemAir’s cooperation, which is a treasured trait in the quest for unquestionable compliance with regulatory requirements. The Sacaa will continue to guide the operator to ensure that all the commitments outlined in their Corrective Action Plan are met,” the statement added.