South African Airways (SAA) has said that it plans to appeal a Zimbabwean High Court decision which ruled that the airway is liable to Zimbabwe’s government for meteorological fees.
Speaking to Tourism Update, SAA Spokesperson Tlali Tlali said that SAA was aware of the judgment and it plans to appeal the decision. ‘SAA’s legal representatives in Zimbabwe have filed an appeal against the judgment in the Supreme Court. There will, therefore, be no action that can be taken against SAA, until the determination of the case by the (Zimbabwean) Supreme Court”
The judgment follows a legal battle that spanned six years after it was discovered that South Africa’s national carrier hadn’t paid the fees for the provision of weather information which is used for flight navigation at Harare’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and Victoria Falls International Airport. All airlines using these airports are required to pay these levies. According to Tourism Update SAA has not paid since 2006.
The Zimbabwean ruling comes after South Africa lifted a ban on Air Zimbabwe in October 2019, which prohibited it from landing at South African airports. The ban had been instated because the Zimbabwean National carrier had outstanding airport service fees and passenger service charges for flights to Johannesburg. Zimbabwe has reportedly begun to pay some of its debt however, according to New Zimbabwe, SA’s airline ‘may only be offered 5% of the $60 million that is owed’.
Image: SAA
