South Africa’s Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has deemed FlySafair’s request for ministerial exemption from complying with some of the provisions of the Air Service Licensing Act to be “premature”. The airline requested the Minister’s intervention based on what FlySafair considers to be a flawed understanding of the law by the regulators, which it claims will have “catastrophic implications” for the South African aviation industry.

In a media statement, the Minister pointed out that Council was still considering submissions from a recent meeting between FlySafair and the complainant, Global Aviation Operations (Lift and Airlink), held on January 14, and that a decision would be made in due course.

“It must, therefore, be noted that it is not a forgone conclusion that the Council will simply just cancel SAFAIR’s licence. The Council has a legal requirement to notify SAFAIR of its final decision. Section 25 of the Act also provides that any person who feels aggrieved by the refusal or decision of the Council may appeal the decision to the High Court,” read the statement.

The Department of Transport also said it was currently seeking legal advice from senior counsel regarding the request.