Absolute Buys CSS, Consolidating Beech and Cessna in South Africa

Textron Aviation melded the Beech and Cessna brands in January 2014, and now that synergy has been replicated with some consolidation between the U.S. airframer’s sales and support providers in South Africa. This month, Johannesburg-based Absolute Aviation Group acquired Comair Sales, Services and Spares (CSS), a subsidiary of Comair General Aviation Holdings, based at Lanseria International Airport.

Absolute has long served as the Beechcraft distributor in 50 countries across Africa. CSS, established in 1946, has served from the outset as the authorized distributor for Cessna Aircraft in South Africa. It handles sales, maintenance and spares support for all Cessna’s piston aircraft, as well as for the Caravan turboprops and Citation jets, holding authorized service center status on all models, except the Citation III, VI and VII.

Neil Howard, Absolute Aviation Group CEO, said, “We place enormous value on the customer experience, and the acquisition ensures that we are well positioned to continue to differentiate ourselves from our competitors into the future. The CSS servicing platform was the obvious choice given the brand synergy crated by the Textron acquisition. Our customers deserve a seamless one-stop service and we will be one of the few suppliers on the African continent able to offer this to them.”