Government has lost its second appeal after being found in breach of Bermuda Aviation Services' (BAS) exclusive rights to provide private jet services at L.F. Wade International Airport — a ruling that could prove costly to taxpayers.

BAS and its subsidiary Aircraft Services filed a writ against Premier Ewart Brown, in his capacity as Minister of Transport, as well as Attorney General at the time, Phil Perinchief, in June 2007, with the case eventually going to arbitration almost a year-and-a-half later, the court ruling in BAS's favour in December 2008.

The case centred around competitor Sovereign Flight Support being given permission by Government to offer a rival private jet service, which contravened BAS's exclusivity deal, extended six years ago up until 2014, said BAS CEO Ken Joaquin.

Having lost at arbitration, Government sought leave to appeal the decision in December last year, but it was refused at Supreme Court on January 8 and a subsequent appeal was turned down at the Court of Appeal yesterday, in a case which could have big repercussions for the future of Sovereign. No date has been set regarding a hearing for costs and damages to be awarded.

Mr. Joaquin said that all he was looking for was for Government to honour the agreement which it had signed allowing BAS exclusive rights to provide private jet services at the airport.

"From our perspective, we would like Government to honour the agreement," he said.

"We are pleased (to have won the case). It went before a very strong panel of legal experts and we feel vindicated (by their decision).

"It (the case) went longer than we would have liked. We would have liked for it to go immediately to the courts rather than arbitration.

"We are glad to finally have it behind us and to be able to get on with doing what we do."

Under the terms of the arbitration hearing, chaired by a three-man panel of lawyers, the ruling was supposed to remain confidential for the immediate future, but the Attorney General's Chambers revealed back in January that the court had ruled in BAS's favour and that Government had put in an application for leave to appeal the decision.

Despite the ongoing case and BAS contesting that Sovereign had not competed in the tender process for the right to offer the service, Sovereign went ahead and converted a former US Air Force building at Carter House in Southside into a private jet passenger terminal, which officially opened in May 2008.

From the outset of the case, BAS maintained that the Ministry would also be going against the advice of its own technical advisers if it granted Sovereign permission to operate private jet services.

Mr. Joaquin said BAS had won an exclusive right to offer private jet services through an open tender in 1997 and made its concerns over the breach known to the Transport Ministry.

But the case went to court and it was announced in August 2007 that the decision would go to arbitration, however the hearing was pushed back to the end of last year.

The future of Sovereign has now been thrown into doubt, with Kenny Burns, president and CEO of Sovereign, yesterday saying he know nothing about the outcome of the case and that it was "business as normal" until he heard otherwise.

Government was unavailable for comment yesterday.