South African Airways (SAA) lodged an appeal on Friday against the Competition Tribunal’s R45 million fine imposed on the airline for abusing its dominant position in the domestic airline market.
”SAA has appealed against both the tribunal’s finding and remedy,” said the tribunal’s spokeswoman Jane Sussens in a statement on Friday.
The fine — the largest in the history of the Competition Act — was imposed on the national carrier on July 28.
SAA had 20 days to pay the fine.
The tribunal previously said SAA broke the law by operating incentive schemes for travel agents which were in breach of the Competition Act.
The tribunal further found that the Explorer scheme, a system of rewarding travel agency staff with SAA tickets on the basis of the number of SAA tickets they sold, helped to reinforce the exclusionary effects of the override scheme.
The case followed a complaint lodged by Nationwide Airlines in 2001. – Sapa