You may recall the story we posted last month when Bestjet was granted an interim injunction against AFTA after the industry body refused to renew the agency’s membership and ATAS accreditation.
Well, here’s the next instalment guys.
And it isn’t good news for Bestjet, an OTA that helps 180,000 travellers book flights to destinations all over the globe.
As of today, Bestjet is no longer an ATAS accredited OTA following the decision by the Queensland Supreme Court to refuse to grant a further injunction against the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) – at least, for now.
This is bad news for the OTA who were initially granted an interim injunction against AFTA refusing to renew its accreditation.
According to AFTA, Bestjet didn’t satisfy certain criteria of the ATAS Charter, specially, section 2.5 “Close Associate” – hence, the refusal to renew.
On the other side of the argument, Bestjet contended – and still contends today – that AFTA’s conduct leading to and including that decision to refuse renewal constituted a breach of contract, oppressive conduct and an unlawful restraint of trade.
But the saga is not over yet.
Here’s what Justice Peter Applegarth – who is kind of like Judge Judy, but Aussie, and a guy – had to say about his decision:
“Just as it would be wrong to interpret the interim injunction as constituting a vindication of Bestjet’s claims in the proceeding, it would be wrong for anyone to claim that my refusal to grant an interlocutory injunction represents a vindication of AFTA’s position.”
Justice Peter Applegarth, Queensland Supreme Court.
We’ll need to wait for the final hearing to hear what happens with this (a date has yet to be decided).
Despite the less than positive news, Bestjet managing director, Rachel James, is looking to the future, and said she remains proud of her company’s achievements and will continue to follow the very same strict corporate governance that made Bestjet one of the fastest growing OTAs in Australia.