THAILAND. Airports of Thailand (AoT) yesterday issued a progress report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on the imminent complete settlement of the long-running cases between the airport company and King Power International Group.
Addressing the Exchange President, AoT Executive Vice President (Planning and Finance) Chiraporn Chemnasiri referred to two concurrent civil court cases between King Power Suvarnabhumi Co (KPS) – case 2440/2007 – and King Power Duty Free Co (KPD) – case 2441/2007 – as plaintiff and AoT defendant.
Here is a summary of the report:
1. On 25 November 2008 KPS and KPD submitted a request for withdrawal of the two court cases, stating that both plaintiffs and defendant had acknowledged the facts that:
1.1 A study conducted by two independent consultancy firms found that the value of the investment, in both public and private sectors, in duty free shops project and commercial activities project, was below THB1 billion (in which case they were not required to be in accordance with the Public-Private Joint Venture Act, as originally claimed by AoT when the dispute started).
Both parties agreed that the concession contract to operate duty free shops at Suvarnabhumi Airport and at AoT’s regional airport dated 20 April 20 2004 and the concession contract to manage commercial activities at Suvarnabhumi Airport dated 25 March 2005 were deemed legitimate.
1.2 The plaintiffs agreed not to claim for any damages incurred from these cases, from the date the contracts had been enforced to the date the Civil Court had permitted KPD and KPS to withdraw the cases (on the grounds that the plaintiffs actually operated the commercial space after the fulfilment of the contracts, thereby causing the investment value to be in excess of THB1 billion).
Both parties agreed to further proceed and follow any procedures as stipulated in the Public-Private Joint Venture Act.
2. Earlier this week, on 26 November, the Civil Court scheduled the hearing of the results of reconciliation in case 2441/2007 between KPD and AoT, stating that the plaintiff no longer intended to file any lawsuit against the defendant.
The plaintiff requested to withdraw this case from the case list and the defendant had no objection to it. The Civil Court, therefore, allowed KPD to withdraw the case.
For case 2440/2007 between KPS and AoT, a hearing of the Civil Court is awaited.
Once that hearing is convened, one of the most acrimonious disputes between an airport and a concessionaire in history will be resolved.
That is welcome news for King Power, which has faced an unprecedented set of challenges in Thailand over the past two years – culminating in this week’s takeover by protestors of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, forcing their closure.
Yet the company has continued to trade successfully and innovatively through its various crises, being judged Airport Retailer of the Year at the recent Frontier Awards.
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