Air Algerie plane forcibly grounded at Brussels airport allowed to take-off

Authorized sources told “Echorouk” that the Air Algerie airliner forcibly grounded for four days at Brussels Airport was finally allowed to take off on Monday bound for Algeria.

The stand-off had sparked off a diplomatic row between Algeria and Belgium and the Netherlands respectively over a pending financial litigation involving Air Algerie and the Dutch K-AIR BV air transport company.

The same sources didn’t specify however whether the two million dollar worth package demanded by the Dutch air Transport Company was paid off by the Algerian side or that this financial dispute was finally settled through the diplomatic channels at the behest of the three governments concerned.

As a recall, Algeria earlier recalled its envoys to Belgium and the Netherlands on Sunday after the Algerian airliner was held in Brussels on Friday over a legal dispute between the country’s flag carrier with a Dutch company.

Algeria’s ambassadors to the Netherlands and Belgium have been recalled for consultations, Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said in a Sunday statement.

The decision comes in response to the grounding of the Air Algerie plane in Brussels airport by Belgian authorities over a legal dispute with the Dutch K-AIR BV air transport company.

Air Algerie issued a statement on Friday saying that one of its airliners was held in Brussels airport over a dispute with the Dutch K-AIR BV, despite the continuation of legal proceedings.

According to the ministry, the dispute is over a contract for the sale of ten out-of-service Air Algerie aircrafts to the Dutch company, a deal that was signed in 2008.

However, the Dutch side’s inability to finance the deal as agreed in the contract led the Algerian side to cancel the sale, bringing the case before a European court that ruled in favor of Dutch side.

The verdict has been appealed by the Algerian airline company, local media asserted.