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In response to the High Court ruling today regarding its legal challenge to the R5-billion Government guarantee for SAA in 2012, JSE listed

Comair responded that is was disappointed that the case has been dismissed, however this simply means that the judge did not rule in favour of the specific remedy sought by Comair, to set aside the R5 billion guarantee.

Comair believes the fact that there was no award for costs would indicate that the judge considered Comair’s case to be valid.  Comair said it needs to study the full ruling before it can make further comment, as there might be aspects in the 75 page ruling that could have positive implications for Comair.

In February 2013 Comair took its battle to the High Court, challenging the ministers of finance and public enterprise’s failures to comply with official Government policy and legislation which governs the operation of SAA as a state-owned entity and its competitive relationship with the rest of the aviation industry.  Comair’s legal view was that the current and previous government guarantees, which now amount to over R14 billion, do not comply with either the Domestic Aviation Transport Policy or the current legislation (the Constitution, the SAA Act, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and the Public Finances Management Act).

Comair CEO, Erik Venter, reiterated that the action taken by Comair was NOT a challenge to stop all funding of SAA; nor a proposal to privatise, nor challenge the shareholding of SAA, nor an attempt to shut down SAA.

Venter added: “Comair’s sole objective was to attain a level playing field in the domestic aviation market to ensure that all airlines face the same risks and the same requirements to operate on sound commercial principles. Government bailouts for SAA skewed this commercial reality as it impacted negatively on all current and potential airline operators.”

“Our objective with the legal action was to ensure that funding to SAA, that will ultimately come out of taxpayer funds, follows the correct parliamentary procedure for appropriations out of the fiscus, that government would only provide funding to SAA after consultation with all affected stakeholders (as per the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act), and that any funding is in accordance with Government’s Domestic Aviation Transport Policy.”

Commenting on next steps, Venter said Comair will consult with its legal team to consider its options and the way forward.

This high court action is separate from previous legal challenges by Comair and other competitors some of which are still active.

Background information on Comair’s high court challenge

About Comair:

South African owned Comair Limited is SA’s only domestic airline listed on the JSE. Proudly local, Comair has been operating successfully in this country for more than six decades with a safety record which is internationally recognised. Since 1996, the company has been the local franchise partner of British Airways Plc operating under British Airways livery in Southern Africa.  Comair also operates Africa’s first low-fare airline, kulula.com, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2011. Since inception, this adventurous brand has revolutionised air travel in South Africa by making flying much easier and more affordable to customers. For more information, visit www.comair.co.za.

Issued by Comair