A sixth airline has gone bust within a month as soaring fuel prices and the
credit squeeze threatens to put even more carriers out of business.
South African-based Nationwide, which operated four return flights a week
between Gatwick and Johannesburg, said it had stopped flights as its
cash-flow had become “critical”.
The last Gatwick flight operated by Nationwide from Gatwick was on Monday
night, with the plane only going to Shannon, Ireland rather than
Johannesburg.
The collapse follows that of two other long-haul airlines operating out of
London airports this month - Oasis from Gatwick to Hong Kong and Eos, which
flew to New York from Stansted. Both ran out of money.
Three US airlines have also gone out of business in April, although not
necessarily due to the fuel prices.
But there is little doubt that with the price of a barrel of oil rising
sharply, more airlines are facing an uphill struggle to survive.
Two of the three business-only airlines between London and New York have
disappeared in the past four months, Eos and rival Maxjet.
The third, Silverjet, announced today that it had reached agreement with a
Middle East investor for $100m, a lifeline to the airline. "Following
recent material increases in fuel prices and tightening of credit conditions
in the airline industry, Silverjet’s working capital has deteriorated and
its residual reserves are limited," admitted a statement.
Those ringing the UK number for Nationwide Airlines today were being given a
recorded message saying the carrier had applied to the South African courts
for “voluntary liquidation”.
Saga Holidays is one of the UK companies which uses Nationwide, both for
flights from Gatwick and for internal services in South Africa. A spokesman
said 25 customers booked to travel and who had received Nationwide tickets
have been rebooked onto other flights. A further 750 booked for future
flights will also be reprotected.
The entire airline industry has been battling surging fuel prices, competitive
pressures and declining consumer spending, particularly in the US and UK.
"Simply the long standing effect of the credit crunch and the price of
oil still continuing to rise means many airlines simply cannot maintain
flying operations unless they make drastic price increases," said Paul
Mclean, director of International Passenger Protection (IPP).
"Although we predicted several other airlines to come into the same
financial difficulties there will sadly be others during this difficult
credit crunch and high oil price period.“
TROUBLE IN THE SKIES
April 29: US business-class airline Eos files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection and stopped flying from Stansted to New York JFK on Monday. The
firm said it had "insufficient cash to continue operations" after
failing to win an investment that would have sustained the firm until 2009.
April 9: A low cost airline that advertised flights to Hong Kong for
£65 went bust. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines went into voluntary liquidation and
cancelled all flights.
April 5: Skybus offered domestic US routes with promises of some $10
fares on every flight. Travellers paid separately for everything from
checked baggage to notification of flight delays. It lasted less than a
year.
April 3: Another US carrier, ATA Airlines, collapsed after
losing a big contract having been burnt seven years ago by accepting a
short-term financial bailout in exchange for its crucial Chicago hub.
Mar 31: Aloha Airlines - poor management was blamed for the demise of
the the Hawaiian company, with competition from Hawaiian Airlines and a
well-financed startup carrier, Go!
December 24, 2007: Maxjet Airlines, which also operated from Stansted
to New York, parked its airplanes and filed for bankruptcy.
Dont forget Euro Manx Airlines which was a domestic airline serving the Isle of Man. It went into liquidation recently too,
Gordon Crennell, Marbella, Spain
can anyone advise me what to do? I have 4 tickets booked for August....??? how can I get my money back?
rachel, durham, uk