LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Fastjet, the Africanbudget airline backed by easyJet founder SteliosHaji-Ioannou, is in a dispute over the right to use the Fly540brand in Angola, Ghana and Tanzania.
The brand's owner, Five Forty Aviation, said on Wednesdaythat it had withdrawn the licences it had granted to Fastjet'soperations in the three African nations to use the Fly540 brandbecause Fastjet owes $7.7 million in outstanding licensing fees.
Five Forty Aviation also said that Fastjet was in breach ofcommercial and safety conditions.
Fastjet said that it "categorically refutes" the claims madeby Five Forty Aviation Chief Executive Don Smith and is"preparing to take legal action against him should he not ceaseand desist".
Five Forty's Smith said: "We had no choice but to take thisaction because the most worrying aspect of non-compliance withthe licensing agreement is that we have no way of assuring thatthe planes are safe to fly."
He added that Five Forty had not received any safety reportsfor the past three months from Fastjet's Africa operations andthat it believes that one Fastjet plane, which flew fromTanzania and landed in Nairobi in December, should not haveflown.
Fastjet, which also operates in Kenya, was formed in June2012 to take advantage of Africa's burgeoning markets after areverse takeover by investment company Lonrho's aviation unit. EasyJet founder Haji-Ioannou owns a 5 percentstake in Fastjet.