FlySafair, a leading South African domestic airline, is facing a major threat of being grounded or fined after the Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC) confirmed that the company does not comply with local aviation legislation.
This follows a recent similar ruling from the International Air Services Council (IASC), which found that FlySafair’s shareholding structure is not compliant with South African laws.
According to the Air Services Licensing Act of 1990, an airline operating in the country’s domestic space must be majority owned by South African citizens.
ASL Aviation which is an Irish company is alleged to owns nearly 75% of FlySafair’s shares, directly and through subsidiaries. As a result, it has been deemed a foreign entity by the IASC.
Kirby Gordon, the chief marketing officer at FlySafair, disputed the interpretation of the company’s shareholding structure, deeming it non-compliant with South African law.
“It is more of a matter of paperwork really than anything to with nuts and bolts,” Kirby said, adding: “We really hope that sanity will prevail across the board, and we can prevent any undue harm to the flying public and our employees,” he said.
The ASLC’s says that airlines must have individual person shareholders, not trust and companies as shareholders of the airline — which is the case as it stands. It said this
interpretation ignores the fact that most individuals do not have the capital or resources to own an airline.
