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Saudi airliner seized in French legal dispute

Published on 20/04/2009

Paris — A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777-200 has been seized at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport in a legal dispute over a two million dollar debt, airport sources said Saturday.

Confirming a report on Europe 1 radio, they said the airliner was seized Friday after its arrival from Riyad by bailiffs acting on instructions from the Saint Nazaire commercial tribunal in the west of France.

Eagle Aviation, an aircraft leasing firm based in Saint Nazaire, alleges that it is owed two million dollars (2.6 million euros) for providing the aircraft.

Travellers affected by the seizure — fewer than 100 in all — were put up in a hotel by the airline, waiting for another flight on Saturday, an airport source said.

Management at Eagle Aviation and Saudi Arabian Airlines could not be reached for comment.

AFP/Expatica