The Namibian High Court has decisively rejected, with costs, an appeal by Menzies Aviation Namibia against its unexpected eviction on August 19, 2023, from Windhoek International, and subsequently removed the case from its docket.
High Court Judge Hannelie Prinsloo, on September 1, ruled the ground handler lacked any legal basis to demand the continuation of its ground handling services at the airport, nor did it have any legal entitlement to occupy premises owned by the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) at the airport, reported the Windhoek Observer.
Judge Prinsloo upheld the NAC's right to enforce prior judgments issued in June 2022 by the High Court and in June 2023 by the Supreme Court, which had resulted in Menzies Namibia's eviction from the airport premises. She declared the matter concluded and removed it from the court's agenda.
ch-aviation has reached out to both parties for comment.
In response to its eviction and subsequent replacement by Paragon Aviation Services, Menzies Namibia had initiated urgent legal proceedings in the Namibia High Court seeking a court order permitting it to continue providing ground handling services. Paragon Aviation Services, a joint venture between the NAC and Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International), secured the ground handling contract in April 2022. Menzies Namibia challenged the legality of this decision in Namibian courts ever since.
On August 23, 2023, the ground handler took further legal action in the High Court, pursuing similar and ancillary relief. As of now, a hearing date for this latest case has not been scheduled.
As reported, the NAC last week said that cargo operations at Windhoek had resumed after some airlines suspended services when it emerged that Paragon Aviation Services lacked the necessary European Union required cargo security manager validation.
Meanwhile, the NAC reported that passenger services had normalised after airlines cancelled and diverted flights following the short-notice ground handler swap.
