4.  The applicant, is a company specialising in air transportation.
5.  At the time of the events it had a valid air operator certificate (an “AOC”) issued by the Moldovan Civil Aviation State Authority (the “CASA”).
6.  On 1 June 2007 the CASA issued an order banning all flights of aircraft registered in Moldova to Iraq and Afghanistan, with effect from 15 July 2007.
7.  Between 4 and 8 June 2007, all Moldovan aviation companies were subjected to a check by the European Union Safety Committee. As a result, some irregularities concerning compliance with the European norms in the field of aviation safety were detected. The European Union Safety Committee also found that some aviation companies did not comply with the rule according to which the companies have to have their principal place of business in the state of registration. One of the conclusions set down in the visit report drawn up by the European Union Safety Committee was that the CASA failed to demonstrate the ability adequately to enforce and implement the relevant safety standards. According to the report, the CASA had undertaken to remedy the situation within three months.
8.  On 18 June 2007 the CASA sent the applicant company aviation instruction no. 2584 and asked it to present by 21 June 2007 a plan for remedying the irregularities found by the EU Safety Committee. The corresponding plan was sent by the applicant company to the CASA on 21 June 2007.
9.  Also on 18 June 2007 the CASA sent the applicant company aviation instruction no. 2585 requesting it to undertake measures with a view to remedying some of the irregularities before 20 July 2007 and other irregularities before 20 September 2007.
10.  On 21 June 2007 the CASA issued order no. 102/GEN withdrawing the applicant company’s AOC, and thereby terminating its activity. The CASA relied on the fact that the applicant company flew to destinations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates. The CASA argued that those destinations involved security risks and that it had no resources to ensure flight security in those territories.
11.  On 22 June 2007 the applicant company wrote to the CASA and asked it to reverse its decision on the grounds that it had not explained exactly what irregularities formed the basis for the withdrawal of the AOCs and that the CASA had not afforded it enough time to remedy the alleged irregularities.
12.  The CASA refused to reverse its decision, and on 28 June 2007 the applicant company challenged it in the Chişinău Court of Appeal. The applicant submitted, inter alia, that according to section 23 of the Law on Civil Aviation, the CASA was entitled to suspend or withdraw the AOCs only if the companies failed to remedy the irregularities found by the CASA within the prescribed time-limit. It also made reference to section RAC‑AOC 0170 from the Regulations in the Field of Civil Aviation according to which an AOC could be revoked only after being initially suspended. Since the CASA had not observed those legal provisions, its actions were unlawful.
13.  On 3 December 2008 the Chişinău Court of Appeal rejected the applicant company’s action, finding that the CASA had been entitled to withdraw its AOC because serious irregularities threatening the safety of the flights had been found by European experts, and because those irregularities had not been remedied. The Court of Appeal did not indicate the irregularities to which it referred. The court also found that the applicant company had failed to comply with the CASA’s order of 1 June 2007 prohibiting flights to Iraq and Afghanistan as of 15 July 2007. The applicant companies challenged the decision before the Supreme Court of Justice.
14.  On 29 April 2009 the Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal after finding that the CASA was entitled to revoke the AOC since the applicant company had failed to comply with its instructions concerning the ban on all flights of aircraft registered in Moldova to Iraq and Afghanistan, with effect from 15 July 2007.