Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has won an appeal in Zambia's Supreme Court, quashing an arbitrator's 2017 damages award of more than USD647,000 to defunct Zambia Skyways and its shareholders, ruling that the arbitrator exceeded his jurisdiction and violated procedural agreements in a dispute around a failed joint venture (JV) between the parties.

The unanimous decision by a full bench of the Supreme Court on Appeal No. 102023 (2025 ZMSC 30) on December 31, 2025, reversed high court and appeals court rulings that had upheld the award and placed costs at Airlink across all courts.

"Airlink welcomes Zambia’s Supreme Court’s decision to set aside the lower courts’ judgements," CEO de Villiers Engelbrecht told ch-aviation.

The case stemmed from a 2014 shareholder agreement (SHA) for a JV between Airlink and Zambia Skyways and its founders, Yuosuf Valli Zumla, Lewis Kunda, Suleman Ahmed Patel, Gillian Lee Casilli, and Diego Gan-Maria Casilli. Airlink took 49 shares in Zambia Skyways for USD300,000, while the Cassilis held a 33% stake.

Airlink withdrew in 2015 amid a hangar lease dispute, refusing payment, and alleging that the SHA was invalid.

The shareholders invoked an arbitration clause in the SHA, seeking specific performance or damages, including USD1.6 million in lost business, and USD350,000 in aggregate legal, consultancy, and technical advisory costs incurred, and loss of profits. Zambia Skyways joined as a non-signatory claimant under Zambia's Arbitration Act, although it was not party to the SHA.

Arbitrator's award

On November 8, 2017, a Zambian arbitrator awarded USD432,000 in "expectation damages" to three founders; USD175,000 "reliance damages" to Zambia Skyways; USD40,000 to Zambia Skyways to be shared by Kunda and a pilot, identified as Godfrey Mulundika; plus interest on the monetary awards - using "guestimates" due to insufficient evidence. A January 16, 2018, supplemental award rejected Airlink's correction request. ​ Airlink requested that the High Court set aside the arbitral award and the supplementary award under the Arbitration Act, alleging excess jurisdiction, public policy violations, and procedural breaches. It also argued that a wet-lease agreement fell outside the scope of the dispute submitted for arbitration.

However, the court dismissed Airlink's request, finding that the claims pleaded and asserted were justified. The decision was upheld by the appeals court.

Supreme Court reversal

In a judgment addressing 13 grounds of appeal, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court rulings, finding multiple errors by the arbitrator, including exceeding the scope of the dispute and breaching the parties’ agreement.

In particular, the Supreme Court ruled that the arbitrator strayed beyond the pleadings in the following points:

  • damages to Zumla, Kunda, and Patel exceeded the claims and went beyond the scope of arbitration;
  • the arbitrator breached the parties’ agreement by using "guesstimates" instead of strict evidentiary rules;
  • awarding damages to a non-party, pilot Godfrey Mulundika, violated public policy;
  • the arbitrator improperly ruled on a wet-lease agreement not submitted for arbitration;
  • reliance damages awarded to Patel were inconsistent with the parties’ agreement;
  • the appeals court misinterpreted a clause of the SHA to justify reliance damages.

Grounds on evidentiary standards were allowed but rendered moot by other findings.

Zambia Skyways, which went out of business in 2010, was originally established as Eastern Air in 1993, and was rebranded as a virtual carrier in 1999, according to ch-aviation research. In 2009, the airline briefly partnered with Air Zimbabwe.