The number of airlines that go bankrupt goes back to 23, including the 9 European carriers. The result is up 5 more compared to 2018.
The 23 airlines that went bankrupt:
• Adria Airways – Slovenia
• Aerolíneas de Antioquía – Colombia
• Aigle Azur – France
• Air Philip – South Korea
• Al Naser Wings Airlines – Iraq
• Asian Express Airline – Tajikistan
• Avianca – Argentina
• Avianca – Brasil
• California Pacific Airlines – United States
• Fly Jamaica Airways – Jamaica
• Flybmi – United Kingdom
• Germania – Germany
• Insel Air – Curacao
• Jet Airways – India
• New Gen Airways – Thailand
• Peruvian Airlines – Peru
• Thomas Cook Airlines – United Kingdom
• Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia – Denmark
• Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics – Spain
• Via Airlines – United States
• Wisdom Airways – Thailand
• Wow Air – Iceland
• XL Airways – France
The two French airlines Aigle Azur and XL Airways both filed for bankruptcy and disappeared from the French skies definitively on September 28 and October 5, leaving behind more than 15,000 passengers in a complicated situation and 2,000 employees stranded. Employees of the two airlines were called by unions (FEETS-FO and SNPNC-FO) to demonstrate against the government and its inaction in the face of the situation.
Aigle Azur faced a terrible financial situation, but the unions believe that the public authorities and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) could have intervened. On the side of XL Airways, this would have been caused by unfair competition, by focusing on social dumping “which allows these Companies to open operating bases by exempting themselves from applying French regulations on remuneration and working conditions “.
Fabrice Dariot, boss of the tour operator at (BDV) “Bourse Des Vols”, said that “About twenty airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2019, including a good fifteen serving the European Union. It is high time that a bank guarantee is required to any airline that embarks or disembarks in Europe. Otherwise, we will continue to mourn for a long time about cheated customers and travel agencies taken hostage by lax legislation. ”
The cause of the liquidations of the airlines, according to IATA, is: the high price per barrel, Brexit, the trade war between China and the USA and, for the French airlines too high taxes and social charges “.
This situation does not prevent the benefits of air transport in Europe. European airlines are expected to post net profits of $ 7.9 billion in 2020, up from the $ 6.2 billion forecast for 2019, according to IATA, which also estimates that Africa, the Middle Orient and Latin America are expected to suffer losses in 2019.