Hi Fly landing row: Saudia protests contract violation

(MENAFN- Arab News) The Saudi Arabian Airlines has canceled the contract with the Portuguese company Hi Fly as it took one of its off-duty aircraft to Israel without permission the SPA said on Saturday.
The decision follows posting of the footage on social networking sites of the aircraft with the Saudia logo landing at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
In a statement Saudia said that an investigation has revealed that the footage is of the plane that was in the custody of Hi Fly.
'The company had been given a contract for air transport to provide Saudia with planes for commercial operations' it added.
'The plane was off duty and under the management of the holding company at the time when it left Saudi Arabia on Sunday May 3 for Brussels Belgium for routine maintenance.'
The Saudi carrier said the leasing company has committed a blatant violation of the contract citing para 7 of Article 8 which states that Hi Fly is committed to obtain a written approval of Saudia mentioning the airports where it is to land or the place to conduct routine maintenance.
'Such landing or operation process should take place in a country that shares diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enable Saudia staff and the Civil Aviation authority to conduct inspection and follow up on the maintenance operation at any time' the contract states.