EMBATTLED ajet and the government have reached a deal allowing the airline’s grounded plane to leave the island.
The development eased a standoff that began two weeks ago, when the Transport Ministry had secured an interim order to keep ajet’s fleet on the ground.
It was intended as a pressure lever on the company, which the government says owes it some £2.1 million in arrears.
According to the airline, the government placed impossible conditions on it, such as demanding the money immediately.
Meanwhile the Attorney-general’s office had filed an injunction with a Larnaca court to seize the airline’s remaining plane, which ajet is leasing from owners Celestial, an Irish concern.
The 737-800 jet was finally cleared for takeoff yesterday morning, heading out for London.
The government had also moved to freeze ajet’s assets.
Complicating matters further, Celestial were being asked for £740,000 in unpaid airport fees.
The low-cost carrier protested that its immovable assets amounted to just £400,000, and that it was being stripped of the very means by which it could repay its dues.
Yesterday the Larnaca court was set to rule on the injunction; but on the eleventh hour the two sides came to an accommodation.
The government has secured a letter of guarantee from Celestial for the £740,000.
But according to ajet lawyer Christos Neocleous, this amount, which is part of the £2.1 million owed in total, will be paid only once ajet’s damages claim against Boeing is settled.
The agreement provides that if ajet win their claim against Boeing, part of the damages will go towards paying off the £2.1 million owed to the government.
If ajet loses, the government gets just the £740,000 from Celestial.
“This is what we proposed in the first place, but the government would hear nothing of it,” said Neocleous.
“Apparently they realised they’d got themselves into a dead end, so they decided to change strategy.”
Neocleous said the Transport Ministry’s hasty actions, which brought about the closure of the airline, had backfired.
“As a result of ajet’s closure, 140 people are out on the streets. Now the government is saddled with their unemployment benefits, which I assure you are no insignificant sum.
“All of this mess might have been avoided had they not shut us down. We had struck a brokerage deal with Excel to hand them our routes. That way, our employees would have kept their jobs.”
Next, Neocleous said, ajet missed out on some £1.8 million from the deposit on the plane, which they were not allowed to return to owners Celestial. Also, they had reached an agreement to sub-lease their planes, which would have generated around £800,000 a year.
“In their haste to shut us down and gratify public sentiment, the government made a hash of things. Now we want compensation for all this income lost. And yes, we plan to sue the government sometime in the coming weeks.”
