Velvet Sky back but facing court action

VELVET Sky chief executive Dhevan Pillay says the lowcost airline will continue to fly in spite of its R29-million debt to fuel supplier BP.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re looking forward to celebrating our first birthday in March. We’ve been thrown a few curveballs over the last year, but we’ve bounced back,” Pillay said yesterday.

The airline has until next Monday to respond to BP’S application to provisionally liquidate it, which Pillay said would be opposed.

Today’s flights were about 90 percent full.

King Shaka International Airport spokesman Colin Naidoo confirmed the airline was fully operational as of Saturday, after all flights were cancelled on Thursday, leaving 600 passengers on 15 flights scrambling.

Velvet Sky operations chief Gary Webb said then that cancellations were because of a “dispute” with SAA Technical, which maintains the airlines’ planes.

In the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday, BP’S counsel, Gerrie Roberts, SC, said Velvet Sky had breached its undertaking to pay arrears by February 17 and had not kept up to date with current payments for aviation fuel.

“Velvet Sky has often delayed paying what was due to BP,” he said.

Farouk Moosa, SC, for Velvet Sky, said negotiations were taking place and he denied allegations that the airline’s pilots had not been paid.

“Payments to staff are up to date,” Moosa said.

Judge Johann Ploos van Amstel said while liquidation applications were usually urgent, he did not envisage problems should Velvet Sky be given until March 5 to respond.

He adjourned the matter to March 7.

Difficulties

BP’S attorney, Thulani Mciwa, said in court papers that in view of Velvet Sky’s obvious credit difficulties, it would not be able to buy aviation fuel from any major SA fuel companies.

He had heard that Velvet Sky was living from hand to mouth by using credit cards to buy small amounts of fuel from other sources.

Mciwa said that the court should ensure that no creditors were unfairly preferred.