Court grounds aeroplane at JKIA in foreign lease dispute

At Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), aircraft number DC-813 appears ready to fly cargo out of the country on a short notice. Yet the plane is not about to leave the airport’s apron any time soon.

At Milimani Commercial Court, some 16km to the west of JKIA, a legal battle is raging over the aircraft that has pitted several foreign airlines against a Nigerian logistics firm.

Two United Arab Emirates-registered airlines, Sky Leader and Fly Aviation, have accused Bravo Cargo Air, an airline licensed in Chad with operations in Dubai, of failing to honour a lease agreement they signed last November.

Sky Leader says it had paid $178,450 (Sh17.8 million in current exchange rates) as per the wet lease agreement and was waiting for the aircraft to be delivered in the United Arab Emirates but Bravo Cargo did not honour the deal.

“Upon payment of the sum to the respondents, we demanded the delivery of the aircraft but the respondents in breach of the lease agreement refused to do so,” Sky leader said in court documents.

The UAE airline operator then filed a case at the Milimani Law Courts in May accusing the Chad-based operator of fraud after tracing the plane to JKIA.

In a consent recorded at the High Court on June 30, Bravo Cargo was to be paid $269,377.73 (about Sh18 million at the time) in seven monthly installments from end of July.

When the installments were not forthcoming Sky Leader then procured services of Nairobi-based Dalali Traders Auctioneers to have the aircraft attached in order to recover the court decree of Sh18 million.

Acting on a court warrant to attach Bravo Cargo’s property the auctioneers placed an advertisement in newspapers on August 24 calling for bidders to sale of the aircraft with a Sh1 million refundable fee.

Before the auction, however, Nigerian based logistics firm CFS Logistics Service Limited objected to the planned attachment and sale of the aircraft saying that they had already acquired it from Bravo Cargo and not being a party to the suit their assets could not be attached.

Court documents reveal that the aircraft acquired on July 20 has been in operation and has since been leased to Pan African Airways who have already received a foreign operating licence from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.

Fredrick Ururuka, general manager of Bravo Cargo, says in court documents: “We had informed relevant authorities of the change of ownership and pursuing the execution of the decree would expose it to untold liabilities.”

Through their own undertakings the parties agreed to maintain status quo until the matter is mentioned before lady justice Amin Farah on September 30.

From the undertakings recorded before High Court judge Eric Ogola Sky Leader will not proceed with the auction of the aircraft scheduled for Wednesday and CFS logistics will ensure that the aircraft does not fly out of JKIA removing it from the High Court’s jurisdiction.