Description

Author Dave Lawrence takes the reader back to the conception of the airline in the middle 1940s and the setting up of the airline in 1947.

He then covers the years of Commercial Air Services (Rhodesia) (Pvt) Ltd (1946 to 1960), and the years of Commercial Air Services (Natal) (Pty) Ltd (1946 – current). Two not so well know periods in Comair’s history, the training projects for the South Africa Air Force and the Israel Air Force in the late 1940s and early 1950s, are also covered in detail.

Great detail is given on the company’s maintenance projects, the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam project, the years when Comair operated South African Airways’ coastal schedules, the rationalisation of the airline in the period 1976 to 1992 during which the Fokker Friendships, amongst others, were introduced, and the “Game Lodge” schedules.

The airline’s venture into the Jet Age in 1992 is well documented as is its association with British Airways that started in 1996 and the introduction of its low cost brand Kulula in 2001.
For the aviation historian complete detailed listings of the company’s aircraft from 1946 to current is given plus two sections dealing with aircraft colour schemes, piston-/turbo-prop aircraft, and jet aircraft.

An appendix is devoted to the key personnel in the airline’s history while the “Stop Press” section keeps the reader up to date with the latest development by means of colour pictures.