In 1946, Commercial Air Services began by operating Fairchild UC-78s (found in Cairo after the war) as a charter service to some of the remotest places in Africa. New South African Aviation regulations in 1948 allowed for Comair to begin its first scheduled service using a new Cessna model 195. Carrying a pilot and four passengers, the Cessna followed the daily return route from Johannesburg to Durban via Kroonstad, Odendaalsrust, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem and Ladysmith. However, a regulated service was not a commercially viable option for Comair at this time, and when Government support was rejected, it was announced that the service must end. As luck would have it, the Anglo American Corporation approached Comair to keep the service, at least to the Free State Goldfields, and agreed to subsidise the losses within reason. Thus Comair continued to operate a scheduled route, and so secured its future existence.

Over the next few decades, Comair continued to operate as a successful organisation and entered the main domestic routes in 1992, operating with Boeing 737-200s and Fokker aircraft and carrying almost 100,000 people a year. At this stage, the route network included services to Cape Town, Durban, Richards Bay, Skukuza, Manzini, Gabarone and Harare, with 200 departures per week. The target market was predominantly leisure passengers, with safari packages available to book directly with Comair.

In 1996, Comair Limited underwent major changes when it became a franchise partner with British Airways. On the 27th of October 1996, Comair became known as British Airways Comair, and took on the colors and livery of British Airways (Plc). Currently under the British Airways banner, services are operated from Johannesburg to Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Harare, Victoria Falls, Livingstone and Windhoek, and between Cape Town and Durban.