COMAIR has won a case against the
Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC)
after the ASLC wanted to revoke
the airline’s domestic licence over
a foreign ownership dispute in May
last year.
TNW reported last year (‘Comair
wins battle, but what about the
war?’ – TNW May 25, 2016) that the
airline had rushed to court to obtain
an urgent interdict to prevent it from
being grounded.
This came after the ASLC found
Comair to be non-compliant with the
Licensing Act in terms of foreign
ownership, which stipulates that
no more than 25% of the voting
rights in a domestic airline may
be held by foreigners. The airline’s
largest shareholder, Bidvest, was a
particular point of contention.
However, on September 21, the
North Gauteng High Court found in
favour of Comair against the ASLC
and has slammed ASLC with
punitive cost orders. The court
found that Comair “demonstrated
comprehensively and in
detail” that more than 75%
of its voting rights were
held by SA residents.
Susan Van Der Ryst,
corporate communications
manager at Comair, told
TNW that the case had
been “an unnecessary
distraction from the airline’s
business of running a
profitable and sustainable
travel enterprise”. “We’re
committed to complying
with the Licensing Act
and especially its foreign
ownership requirements.
We’ll continue to work
with the ASLC to interpret
and apply the Act correctly
and to address any areas
where there appears to be
ambiguity. Comair Limited
makes every effort to
comply with the legislative
requirements governing its
operations.
