The suit comes after a row that left 400 Thai passengers stranded at Incheon International Airport in October last year.
It was a disastrous start to business for PC Air when South Korea’s biggest airport refused permission for PC’s sole aircraft, an Airbus 310-222 with 200 seats, to take off.
In earlier reports, the refusal was said to have been triggered by a conflict between PC Air and its South Korean sales agent, Skyjet, over unpaid bills for airport charges and jet fuel, reportedly amounting to more than B10 million.
The airline had filed a complaint with police in Incheon against its South Korean sales agent, Skyjet, and oil company Jae Sin. Police were preparing to forward the case to prosecutors, PC Air’s chief executive Peter Chan told a press conference last week.
PC Air accused the two companies of committing a financial crime by blackmailing it into paying them money by holding its passengers hostage.
According to Mr Chan, PC Air paid US$160,000 (B4.8 million) to Skyjet to settle fuel bills on Oct 11 and had documentary evidence to back up its claim.
On Oct 15, the company allegedly received a letter from Jae Sin demanding it pay an additional US$600,000 (B18 million) and authorise Skyjet to operate as PC Air’s sales agent in Thailand, failing which the airline would be refused the right to use the airport.
The company refused to pay the requested sum because Jae Sin did not specify clearly what purpose the extra money was needed for, Mr Chan said.
The refusal resulted in Skyjet closing its counter service and Jae Sin refusing to refill the airline’s aircraft, leaving the Thai passengers stranded for 25 hours.
Read the original story on the Bangkok Post here.