A summarised history of major airlines in South Africa
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1934 | SAA was established |
| 1949 | Comair was established as a private airline |
| 1978 | Link Airways began operations (later known as SA Airlink) in 1978 (secondary routes) |
| 1979 | Bop Air began operations (later known as Sun Air) |
| 1990 | The industry was deregulated, but the private sector allowed a one year grace period to prepare itself before re-entering international routes |
| 1991 | Flitestar was the first airline to enter after deregulation |
| 1992 | Comair began operating the main domestic routes starting with Johannesburg-Cape Town. SA Airlink started operations in 1992, following the collapse of an alliance between Magnum Airlines, Border Air and City Air, operating as Link Airways, due to financial problems |
| 1993 | SA Airlink formed an alliance with SAA |
| 1994 | Flitestar ceased business in April when it went bankrupt |
| Phoenix Air began operations in December 1994 and focused on Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town routes | |
| SA Airlink formed an alliance with SA Express | |
| 1995 | Phoenix Air ceased operations due to failure to pay its debts |
| Nationwide Airlines was established | |
| 1996 | Comair entered into a franchise agreement with British Airways (18% shareholding) |
| Sun Air enters the market | |
| 1998 | Interlink Airlines began operations |
| 1999 | Sun Air ceased operations when taken over by SAA |
| 2001 | Kulula, a subsidiary of Comair, entered the market as the first LCC |
| 2002 | Intensive Air went bankrupt and ceased operations |
| 2004 | I Time entered the industry |
| 2006 | Mango, a subsidiary of SAA, entered the market as a low-cost carrier |
| 2008 | Nationwide ceased operations due to bankruptcy |
| 2010 | Interlink Airlines went into liquidation and ceased operations |
| 2011 | Velvet Sky entered the market in October on the Johannesburg-Cape Town route |
| Santaco Airlines launched with a publicity flight but failed to commence commercial flights | |
| 2012 | Velvet Sky ceased operations due to failure to repay its debts |
| 1 Time ceased operations when it went bankrupt | |
| 2013 | CemAir launches full-service domestic scheduled flights (mainly to smaller towns and cities in RSA) |
| 2014 | FlySafair began operations |
| 2015 | Skywise, Fly Go Air, and Fly Blue Crane began operations |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1934 | SAA was established |
| 1949 | Comair was established as a private airline |
| 1978 | Link Airways began operations (later known as SA Airlink) in 1978 (secondary routes) |
| 1979 | Bop Air began operations (later known as Sun Air) |
| 1990 | The industry was deregulated, but the private sector allowed a one year grace period to prepare itself before re-entering international routes |
| 1991 | Flitestar was the first airline to enter after deregulation |
| 1992 | Comair began operating the main domestic routes starting with Johannesburg-Cape Town. SA Airlink started operations in 1992, following the collapse of an alliance between Magnum Airlines, Border Air and City Air, operating as Link Airways, due to financial problems |
| 1993 | SA Airlink formed an alliance with SAA |
| 1994 | Flitestar ceased business in April when it went bankrupt |
| Phoenix Air began operations in December 1994 and focused on Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town routes | |
| SA Airlink formed an alliance with SA Express | |
| 1995 | Phoenix Air ceased operations due to failure to pay its debts |
| Nationwide Airlines was established | |
| 1996 | Comair entered into a franchise agreement with British Airways (18% shareholding) |
| Sun Air enters the market | |
| 1998 | Interlink Airlines began operations |
| 1999 | Sun Air ceased operations when taken over by SAA |
| 2001 | Kulula, a subsidiary of Comair, entered the market as the first LCC |
| 2002 | Intensive Air went bankrupt and ceased operations |
| 2004 | I Time entered the industry |
| 2006 | Mango, a subsidiary of SAA, entered the market as a low-cost carrier |
| 2008 | Nationwide ceased operations due to bankruptcy |
| 2010 | Interlink Airlines went into liquidation and ceased operations |
| 2011 | Velvet Sky entered the market in October on the Johannesburg-Cape Town route |
| Santaco Airlines launched with a publicity flight but failed to commence commercial flights | |
| 2012 | Velvet Sky ceased operations due to failure to repay its debts |
| 1 Time ceased operations when it went bankrupt | |
| 2013 | CemAir launches full-service domestic scheduled flights (mainly to smaller towns and cities in RSA) |
| 2014 | FlySafair began operations |
| 2015 | Skywise, Fly Go Air, and Fly Blue Crane began operations |
Sources:
Modified from Paelo and Vilakazi (2016) and Aigbavboa et al. (2023)