NOTE 20 - Commitments

As of September 30, 2022, the Company’s significant commitment is summarized as follows: 

Airbus SAS Agreement: On November 30, 2018, in furtherance of a memorandum of understanding signed in March 2018, the Company entered into an agreement with Airbus SAS (“Airbus”), pursuant to which Airbus will develop and certify a complete retrofit solution allowing the installation of the Company’s “AERKOMM K++” system on Airbus’ single aisle aircraft family including the Airbus A319/320/321, for both Current Engine Option (CEO) and New Engine Option (NEO) models. Airbus will also apply for and obtain on the Company’s behalf a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the European Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, as well as from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration or FAA, for the retrofit AERKOMM K++ system. The EU-China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, or BASA, went into effect on September 3, 2020, giving a boost to the regions’ aviation manufacturers by simplifying the process of gaining product approvals from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, while also ensuring high safety and environment standards will continue to be met. Pursuant to the terms of our Airbus agreement, Airbus agreed to provide the Company with the retrofit solution which will include the Service Bulletin and the material kits including the update of technical and operating manuals pertaining to the aircraft and provision of aircraft configuration control. The timeframe for the completion and testing of this retrofit solution, including the certification, is expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2022, although there is no guarantee that the project will be successfully completed in the projected timeframe.

Airbus Interior Service Agreement: On July 24, 2020, Aerkomm Malta, entered into an agreement with Airbus Interior Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus. This new agreement follows the agreement that Aircom signed with Airbus on November 30, 2018 pursuant to which Airbus agreed to develop, install and certify the Aerkomm K++ System on a prototype A320 aircraft to EASA and FAA certification standards. 

Hong Kong Airlines Agreement: On January 30, 2020, Aircom signed an agreement with Hong Kong Airlines Ltd. (HKA) to provide to Hong Kong Airlines both of its Aerkomm AirCinema and AERKOMM K++ IFEC solutions. Under the terms of this new agreement, Aircom will provide HKA its Ka-band AERKOMM K++ IFEC system and its AERKOMM AirCinema system. HKA will become the first commercial airliner launch customer for Aircom. On November 17, 2021, we signed a new agreement with Hong Kong Airlines Ltd and Ejectt Inc. Based on the long-term relationship and anticipated further co-operation between Aerkomm and Hong Kong Airlines, Aerkomm agreed that it will provide to Hong Kong Airlines the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite version of the Aerkomm K++ System with the Telesat Lightspeed service when available. The Aerkomm K++ System will be delivered with a full certified Service Bulletin by Airbus.

Republic Engineers Complaint: On October 15, 2018, Aircom Telecom entered into a product purchase agreement, or the October 15th PPA, with Republic Engineers Maldives Pte. Ltd., a company affiliated with Republic Engineers Pte. Ltd., or Republic Engineers, a Singapore based, private construction and contracting company. On November 30, 2018, the October 15th PPA was re-executed with Republic Engineers Pte. Ltd. as the signing party. The Company refers to this new agreement as the November 30th PPA and, together with the October 15th PPA, the PPA. Under the terms of the PPA, Republic Engineers committed to the purchase of a minimum of 10 shipsets of the AERKOMM K++ system at an aggregate purchase price of $10 million. Additionally, under the terms of the PPA, the Executive Director of Republic Engineers, C. A. Raja, agreed to sign an agreement, or the Guarantee, to guarantee all of the obligations of Republic Engineers under the PPA. Republic Engineers had submitted a purchase order, or PO, dated October 15, 2018 for the 10 shipsets and was supposed to have made payments to Aircom Telecom against the purchase order shortly thereafter. Republic Engineers made no payments against the purchase order and the Company did not begin any work on the ordered shipsets. On July 7, 2020, Republic Engineers and Mr. Raja filed a complaint against Aerkomm, Aircom and Aircom Telecom (the “Aircom Parties”) in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Almeda, or the Court, seeking declaratory relief only and no money damages, alleging that the PPA and the PO were not executed or authorized by Republic Engineers and that the Guarantee was not executed or authorized by Mr. Raja. Republic Engineers and C. A. Raja requested from the Court (i) orders that the PPA, the PO and the Guarantee be declared null and void and (ii) the payment of their reasonable attorney’s fees. On July 29, 2020, Aircom Telecom provided notice to Republic Engineers that the PPA and the PO was terminated according to their terms as a result of the non-performance of Republic Engineers and the Failure of Mr. Raja to provide the Guarantee. The Aircom Parties filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings in August 2021, asking the Court to find the Complaint for Declaratory Relief to be moot, because the contracts that are the subject of the Complaint have been terminated. On September 22, 2021, the Court granted that motion, and dismissed the complaint. At the request of Republic Engineers, the Court granted Republic Engineers leave to amend its complaint to attempt to allege a viable claim. On May 10, 2022, Republic Engineers and Aircom Parties entered into a settlement and mutual release agreement, which included, among other things, a denial of wrongdoing by both parties, a requirement that Republic Engineering file a motion with the Court to dismiss its lawsuit against the Aircom Parties and a mutual release by each party of any and all claims against the other party relating to this dispute. On May 17, 2022, Republic Engineers filed with the Court a motion to dismiss with prejudice, its lawsuit against the Aircom Parties and on that same day the Court officially dismissed the lawsuit.

Shenzhen Yihe: On June 20, 2018, the Company entered into that certain Cooperation Framework Agreement, as supplemented on July 19, 2019, with Shenzhen Yihe Culture Media Co., Ltd., or Yihe, the authorized agent of Guangdong Tengnan Internet, or Tencent Group, pursuant to which Yihe agreed to assist the Company with public relations, advertising, market and brand promotion, as well as with the development of a working application of the Tencent Group WeChat Pay payment solution and WeChat applets applicable for Chinese users and relating to cell phone and WiFi connectivity on airplanes. As compensation under this Yihe agreement, the Company paid Yihe RMB 8 million (approximately US$1.2 million). On October 16, 2020, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement with Yihe, as supplemented, the Company filed an arbitration action with the Shenzhen International Arbitration Court, or the Arbitration Court, claiming that Yihe failed to perform under the terms of the supplemented agreement and seeking a complete refund of its RMB 8 million payment to Yihe. The Company received notice from the Arbitration Court on October 16, 2020 of receipt of its arbitration filing and the requirement to pay the Arbitration Court RMB 190,000 in fees relating to the arbitration. These fees were paid on October 28, 2020. The Company intends to aggressively pursue this matter. As of September 30, 2021, the prepayment was reclassified to other receivable and full allowance was reserved. On March 25, 2022, the Shenzhen International Arbitration Court issued a judgment in our favor. The Court deemed the Company’s agreement with Yihe terminated as of November 24, 2020, the date of the Company’s filing with the Court, and held that Yihe is required to promptly repay us RMB 7.5 million and reimburse the Company RMB 178,125 in court costs. The Company will make every effort to collect these amounts from Yihe.