JEDDAH: The Court of Grievances in Riyadh has ordered the Saudi Red Crescent Authority (SRCA) to pay 540,672 euros to a specialized Portuguese company for operation of aircraft.

The SRCA had agreed with the Portuguese company to transfer its planes from the Airbus factory to the Kingdom and ensure all the necessary requirements of this operation.

However, the Portuguese company made other financial claims, leading to a protest by Red Crescent against some points, violating the agreement between the two parties.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese company stopped transferring the planes.

The SRCA demanded, in a lawsuit filed against the Portuguese company, to release its bank guarantee estimated at 158,000 euros which had been reserved in France.

But a French court refused to consider this claim and forced the Saudi Red Crescent to pay SR250,000 toward the cost of proceedings.

The SRCA’s claims against the Portuguese firm included recovery of 250,000 euros as initial input for transferring the Airbus aircraft, which had not been done by the company; a compensation due to the detention of the aircraft for three months in France and compensation for attorneys’ fee over the matter of bringing the planes from France to the Kingdom.