FlySafair falls foul of licensing body and pilots' union

Budget airline FlySafair has faced off with both the Air Licensing Council and its own pilot body in the same week.

- Hein Kaiser

While the council ruled against the airline about its controversial foreign ownership, trade union Solidarity has threatened strike action by the carrier's pilot body.

In a drawn-out hearing and deliberation process, the Air Licensing Council ruled late yesterday that the airline's foreign ownership structure conflicts with current regulations. As it stands, foreign ownership of a domestically registered airline is limited to 25%.

In a submission to the council in May this year, its competitor, Lift, suggested that FlySafair's majority ownership lies in Ireland with shareholder ASL Aviation Holdings holding a vast majority of the issued equity in the company.