A South African high court has found in favour of Comair (South Africa) (CAW, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) against the country's Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC), which had threatened to suspend the airline over an incorrect assessment of its foreign ownership. Moneyweb reports that the ASLC has been ordered to repay Comair's costs in a legal battle stemming back to 2014.
As previously reported, Comair was accused by FlySafair (FA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) of violating South Africa's foreign ownership rules. However, realising its error, FlySafair withdrew its complaint. The ASLC decided to pursue the matter, despite advice from its own legal team which found there was no cause for complaint. The ASLC hit Comair with an order to rectify its situation by May 2016 or face suspension of its license.
At that time, Comair took the matter to court where it was successfully granted an urgent interdiction, as the ALSC refused to guarantee that it would not suspend the airline before a hearing was held. Comair has argued that the ALSC made its decision without having any material facts, an assertion the court agreed with when the matter was finally heard in March this year.
"It is apparent from the correspondence between the Council and Comair that the Council did not engage with the extensive information provided to it, including the independent experts' reports," the Court found. This was despite clear evidence that Comair was held more than 75% by South African shareholders.
The court concluded by saying "there are no convincing reasons why the Council allowed this matter to run its full course without making an attempt to settle it outside the court", and it must now pay Comair's costs.
This is the second legal battle Comair has won this year; in March, a court found South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) guilty of anti-competitive practices, and awarded Comair over ZAR1.1 billion (USD84.8 million) in damages plus interest. SAA has appealed that decision.
