Court rules airline funds held by CAS do not belong to liquidation estate
The High Court has ruled that money collected by Caribbean Airport Services Ltd. (CAS) on behalf of two airlines does not belong to the company’s liquidation estate and must instead be returned to the airlines.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Rene Williams of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the court found that CAS was holding the funds in trust, meaning the money was never legally owned by the company, even though it was in CAS’s possession when the company was placed into liquidation.
CAS, a ground-handling company, was ordered wound up in February 2025. Before its collapse, the company collected cargo and service payments from customers on behalf of Amerijet International Airlines and Caribbean Airlines Limited, deducting commissions before sending the balance to the airlines.
When CAS entered liquidation, more than EC$513,000 was identified as money potentially owed to the two airlines. The court-appointed liquidator asked the court to decide whether those funds should be treated as CAS assets — which would be shared among creditors — or returned to the airlines.
The court ruled that the funds were not part of CAS’s assets.
Justice Williams said the key issue was whether CAS was free to use the money as it wished. After reviewing the contracts and how the parties operated in practice, the court found that CAS was not allowed to use the money for its own purposes and was required to account to the airlines after reconciliation.
Although the funds were not kept in separate trust accounts, the judge said that alone did not change their legal character. The evidence showed that CAS could only deduct agreed commissions and charges and had no right to treat the remaining money as its own.
As a result, the court declared that the funds collected for both Amerijet and Caribbean Airlines were held on trust and must be paid to them once final amounts are agreed or determined.
If the parties cannot agree on the exact sums owed within 30 days, the money will remain in a separate account until the court settles the matter.
The court made no order as to costs, noting that the liquidator acted properly by seeking guidance from the court on a complex and fact-specific issue.
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