FASTJET’S COURTSHIP FOR JETLINK THREATENED BY WINDING UP PETITION
News are emerging from Nairobi that one of the aviation fuel supplies to grounded Jetlink has gone to court to file a winding up petition, in order to attempt recovery of outstanding money to the tune of over 160.000 US Dollars owed to them. A source in Nairobi passed the information that a case was filed in the High Court in Nairobi on Tuesday, 19th March.
This development might complicate the talks between FastJet and Jetlink aimed to form a new partnership in Kenya, allowing FastJet to finally get into the aviation market they had targeted all along but were pushed to Tanzania for start up when problems in the cooperation with erstwhile partner Fly540 started to emerge, effectively stalling any fast tracked entry into Kenya. Jetlink and FastJet had held repeated talks in the past, with no results becoming publicly available, though Jetlink reportedly also were and are in talks with other potential partners to inject capital and then resume operations.
The court case invites comparison with FastJet’s attempt to enter the South African market through a cooperation with defunct 1Time, which is in liquidation, and where the newcomer claims the market is underserved. This mindboggling statement came inspite of Kulula and Mango, two LCC’s operating within South Africa and into the region, providing travel at fares hard to beat, giving the two loadfactors other scheduled airlines in South Africa only marvel at.
Interesting enough, the same fuel company, Finjet, last year also launched a winding up petition against rival Fly540, a company FastJet eventually went to bed with only to see the nuptials come crashing down when the erstwhile partnership fell apart as claims and counterclaims were made and courtcases filed. That case was eventually withdrawn with Finjet opting for other ways and means to recover their money from Fly540 at the time.
Jetlink is expected to vigorously defend against a winding up petition, so watch this space for upcoming future news.
