Airlines that no longer fly in South Africa

Which South African airlines have stopped flying

Three scheduled carriers have left the South African market since 2020, and several smaller operators went before them. This table is the short version; the detail on refunds and replacement routes follows below.

Mango Airlines — the one refund window still open

Mango launched in 2006 as South African Airways’ low-cost subsidiary and flew its first service on 15 November 2006. Airports Company South Africa grounded it in April 2021 over unpaid landing fees, and it stopped flying entirely in July 2021. It entered business rescue the same month, and its air services licence was suspended in August 2022.

Several revival attempts followed. The Gauteng High Court ruled in 2025 that the business rescue plan could not be implemented, and the last prospective investor, Ubuntu Air, withdrew on 31 July 2025. The airline then moved into a structured wind-down. Mango has not flown since 2021 and there is no active plan to return it to the air.

Kulula.com and Comair — why there is no refund portal

Comair was one of the oldest airlines in the country, operating since 1946. It ran the low-cost kulula.com brand alongside a franchise agreement to fly British Airways domestic services. Before the pandemic it was consistently one of the most profitable airline groups in the world.

Comair entered business rescue in May 2020. Flights were suspended on 31 May 2022 when the practitioners could not raise the funding required to keep operating, and on 9 June 2022 they confirmed there was no reasonable prospect of rescue for either Comair or Kulula. The companies went into liquidation.

This is the key practical difference from Mango. There is no Comair claim portal, because liquidation follows a creditor hierarchy rather than a customer-refund process. Unflown ticket liability stood at roughly R348 million, and ticket holders rank as concurrent creditors — behind secured and preferential creditors, and paid only if funds remain after those claims are settled. Legal commentary at the time put the realistic wait at three to four years with no guarantee of a full recovery.

The route that actually worked for most passengers was a card chargeback. Anyone who paid by Visa, Mastercard or American Express could dispute the transaction through their bank once the liquidation order was granted, because the service was never delivered. Discovery Vitality, FNB and eBucks Travel also ran dedicated processes for customers who booked through their platforms. If you never pursued either route, the chargeback window has long since closed with your bank.

SA Express

SA Express was a state-owned regional carrier that fed smaller domestic and regional destinations. It was placed under business rescue and then provisional liquidation in 2020 after rescue efforts failed, and did not return. Much of its regional network was absorbed by Airlink and CemAir, which is why those two carriers now dominate routes to smaller centres such as Kimberley, Mthatha, Richards Bay and Hoedspruit.

Who flies those routes now

The exits reshaped the domestic market rather than shrinking it. FlySafair absorbed the largest share of Kulula and Mango’s low-cost demand and is now the biggest domestic operator by seats. Lift, launched in December 2020, competes on the three highest-volume trunk routes. Airlink and CemAir took the regional network.

What this means when you book

Four scheduled airlines collapsing inside a decade is a genuine consumer risk, not a history lesson. Two practical habits follow from it.

• Pay by credit card where you can. Chargeback rights were the only mechanism that returned money quickly to Kulula passengers. Debit card and EFT holders had far weaker recourse.
• Be cautious with far-forward bookings on a carrier in financial difficulty. Airline news is public. A carrier missing salary payments or landing fees is a signal worth reading before you book eight months ahead.

None of this is a reason to avoid booking. It is a reason to book with the payment method that protects you.

Sources: Mango business rescue circulars and notices (flymango.africa), Comair business rescue practitioner statements, and South African press reporting on both processes. Airline statuses change — verify directly with the relevant practitioner before acting on any claim deadline. Last reviewed 28 July 2026.