Khalifa Group liquidator recovers 8,000 free air tickets

The liquidator of Khalifa Bank and Khalifa Airways recovered around 8,000 free tickets out of 10,000 allocated for a number of high executives, general managers, businessmen and journalists, according to well-informed sources.The liquidator made an announcement in February 2007 to call on all people who had been given free tickets to pay for them.Khalifa Airways was a passenger and cargo airline based in Algiers owned by Rafik Khalifa, a runaway Algerian businessman. 

Rafik Khalifa and his associates allocated 10,000 tickets for a number of officials and their children in addition to State executives, private managers, journalists and a number of Khalifa group’s employees. The tickets were for domestic trips and even abroad including France and a number of European countries, said the same sources.

The bank liquidator could not recover the other part of the money as the benefiting persons refused to give it back. He will have to bring lawsuits against them.

 Khalifa Airways which dominated Algeria’s air transport market with 50 percent employed 2,500 people.In spring 2007, a number of officials and public companies’ managers admitted in court that they had got free tickets with some of their relatives.