Singapore Airlines v CSDS Aircraft: Setting Aside Default Judgment for Aircraft Purchase Agreement Dispute

In Singapore High Court Suit No 1098 of 2018, Singapore Airlines Limited sued CSDS Aircraft Sales & Leasing Inc for breach of an aircraft purchase agreement. The defendant applied to set aside a default judgment. The court, presided over by Assistant Registrar Jean Chan Lay Koon, allowed the defendant's application, finding a triable issue regarding whether Singapore Airlines could terminate the agreement after initially seeking specific performance. The court considered the cases of *Public Trustee v Pearlberg* and *Johnson v Agnew* in its decision.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Defendant's application to set aside the default judgment is allowed.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

The High Court considered setting aside a default judgment in an aircraft purchase agreement dispute, focusing on specific performance and repudiation.

1.7 Decision Date

29 April 2019

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
CSDS Aircraft Sales & Leasing Inc	Defendant	Corporation	Default judgment set aside	Won	Sharon Chong Chin Yee of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP Roderick Martin SC of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP Rajaram Ramiah of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP
Singapore Airlines Limited	Plaintiff	Corporation	Application to set aside default judgment allowed	Lost	Kelvin Tan of Drew & Napier LLC Chng Hu Ping of Drew & Napier LLC Chen Chuanjian Jason of Drew & Napier LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Jean Chan Lay Koon	Assistant Registrar	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Sharon Chong Chin Yee	RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP
Roderick Martin SC	RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP
Rajaram Ramiah	RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP
Kelvin Tan	Drew & Napier LLC
Chng Hu Ping	Drew & Napier LLC
Chen Chuanjian Jason	Drew & Napier LLC

4. Facts

Singapore Airlines and CSDS Aircraft entered into an aircraft purchase agreement on 19 September 2018.
CSDS agreed to purchase a Boeing 777-212 for US$6.5 million.
CSDS paid an initial deposit of US$250,000 on 27 July 2018.
CSDS failed to pay the balance sum of US$6.25 million despite extensions.
Singapore Airlines initially sought specific performance of the agreement.
Singapore Airlines then terminated the agreement due to CSDS's failure to pay.
Singapore Airlines obtained a default judgment against CSDS for damages to be assessed.

5. Formal Citations

Singapore Airlines Ltd v CSDS Aircraft Sales & Leasing Inc, Suit No 1098 of 2018 (Summons No 368 of 2019), [2019] SGHCR 08

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2018-07-27	Defendant paid initial deposit of US$250,000.
2018-09-19	Aircraft purchase agreement signed.
2018-10-31	Plaintiff filed writ of summons with statement of claim.
2018-11-01	Defendant requested extension for closing.
2018-11-02	No payment received from defendant.
2018-11-03	Plaintiff served writ and statement of claim on defendant.
2018-11-04	Plaintiff terminated agreement.
2018-11-05	Plaintiff amended statement of claim.
2018-11-28	Plaintiff entered default judgment against defendant.
2019-01-22	Ms. Lara Ruth Shapiro affirmed supporting affidavit.
2019-03-25	Hearing date.
2019-04-08	Hearing date.
2019-04-30	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Setting Aside Default Judgment
- Outcome: The court allowed the application to set aside the default judgment.
- Category: Procedural
- Related Cases:
  - [2008] 4 SLR(R) 907
Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found a triable issue as to whether the plaintiff could terminate the contract after seeking specific performance.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [1940] 2 KB 1
  - [1980] AC 367
Specific Performance
- Outcome: The court considered whether seeking specific performance precluded subsequent termination of the contract.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [1940] 2 KB 1
  - [1980] AC 367

8. Remedies Sought

Specific Performance
Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Aviation

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Mercurine Pte Ltd v Canberra Development Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2008] 4 SLR(R) 907	Singapore	Cited for the test for setting aside a regular default judgment.
Public Trustee v Pearlberg	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1940] 2 KB 1	England	Cited regarding whether a plaintiff can terminate a contract after seeking specific performance.
Johnson v Agnew	House of Lords	Yes	[1980] AC 367	England	Cited regarding alternative remedies of specific performance and damages.
McKenna v Richey	Supreme Court of Victoria	Yes	[1950] V.L.R. 360	Australia	Cited with approval regarding suing for specific performance and common law damages in the alternative.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Rules of Court (Cap. 322, R 5, 2006 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Civil Law Act	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Aircraft Purchase Agreement
Specific Performance
Repudiatory Breach
Default Judgment
Balance Sum
Termination
Pearlberg
Agnew

15.2 Keywords

aircraft purchase
specific performance
default judgment
breach of contract
aviation
Singapore Airlines
CSDS Aircraft

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Judgments and Orders	80
Civil Practice	75
Setting Aside Default Judgement	70
Specific performance	65
Breach of Contract	60
Contract Law	50
Interpretation of Contract	45

16. Subjects

Contract Law
Civil Procedure
Aviation
Default Judgment