The Competition Commission has said it is monitoring airline ticket prices after Comair suspended operations this week due to a liquidity crunch, sparking fears that the remaining airlines could take advantage of reduced supply and hike fares.

According to a Business Day report, it said it had met with Lyft, FlySafair, Airlink and SAA amid concerns that the move by Comair to halt operations could lead to a spike in airline ticket prices.

‘Specifically, the commission sought to prevent any possible price gouging emanating from the supply shock. The commission was encouraged by the positive response of all the airlines in this respect as they acknowledged the need to bring in more capacity in the market and committed not to change their pricing methodologies to exploit the situation,’ commission spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga said.

He said, however, all parties acknowledged the challenges posed by the rising fuel prices, which could put pressure on the cost of air travel.

‘The commission will monitor the situation,’ Makunga said.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) – one of the major unions at Comair – said yesterday the company can be saved only if there is a new management team in place.

Numsa added management had failed to answer almost all its questions yesterday, including whether employees would be paid their salaries during the period of the suspension of operations, and the total amount of money Comair needs to restart operations.

Full Business Day report