Johannesburg - Comair, a franchise partner for British
Airways, plans to take the government to court over its continued funding of
state carrier South African Airways, the Business Report newspaper said on
Wednesday.
The government last year agreed to guarantee R5bn in loans
for the troubled national airline over the next two years.
Comair's Chief Executive Erik Venter said the latest bailout
and previous payments did not comply with neither the domestic aviation
transport policy nor the law, according to the paper.
"Comair's sole objective is 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," he was quoted as saying.
Venter said Comair was not seeking to stop all financial
support of SAA or to shut or privatise the airline, but asking that any
assistance be in line with domestic transport policy to minimise impact on
other operators.
Neither Comair nor South Africa's department of public
enterprises, which oversees SAA, could immediately be reached for comment.
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