End of the runway: financial problems have forced SkyWork to wind down. (© KEYSTONE / PETER KLAUNZER)
The last SkyWork flight landed in Bern Airport on Wednesday night, as ongoing financial difficulties forced the company to declare itself bankrupt. Some 11,000 passengers are affected.
The company, founded in 1983, cited the failure of negotiations with a potential partner to pull the company from recurring funding shortfalls that intensified in October last year.
As a result, “SkyWork Airlines has decided to hand in its operating license to FOCA [the Federal Office of Civil Aviation]”, the company wrote in a press releaseexternal link. It will also file for bankruptcy, and a court will decide on next steps.
The company employed over 100 people and its six turboprop Saab 2000 planes served 22 European destinations from its hub just outside the Swiss capital.
The grounding of its fleet leaves 11,000 pre-booked passengers facing the challenge of securing refunds or alternative travel arrangements.
FOCA has outlined the options available to stranded travellersexternal link and is manning a ‘Passenger Rights’ telephone hotline for those with further questions. Those with SkyWork bookings are advised not to come to the airport, and rather to contact the booking or travel agent where they initially bought tickets.
The wind-down of SkyWork also leaves Bern Airport in a difficult situation, as the airline represented 60% of the total flights serving the Swiss capital.
But authorities at the airport – where almost 300,000 passengers pass through each year – said that its existence was not threatened, and that the immediate priority would be to maintain flights to the most popular European destinations SkyWork had served.
The summer service of Helvetic Airways, which flies from Bern to holiday destinations in Italy, Spain, France, and Greece, remains unaffected, the airport confirmed.
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