Air Littoral

[FL460]

Heard a rumour that Air Littoral filed for bankruptcy last Tueday.
I just got this info which seems to confirm it


France counts the cost of Air Littoral collapse
Victoria Moores, London (18Feb04, 12:49 GMT, 419 words)
France’s Transport Ministry is today counting the cost of the demise of Air Littoral, estimating the carrier’s failure has cost the state over €80 million ($102 million).
A French court initiated liquidation proceedings for Air Littoral, and its maintenance division Air Littoral Industrie, yesterday after the failure of the latest in a string of rescue bids since the carrier’s entry into administration in August.
In a statement the Transport Ministry says: “For two years, the Government has worked towards the recovery of Air Littoral. Successive moratoriums on public tax and social debts, amounting to about €70 million were granted to the carrier.
“Moreover, since the liquidation, the company has again ceased payment on its national debts totalling approximately €10 million. All these efforts were authorized for the sole objective of saving the company and employment – although this was not possible.”
Air Littoral was initially put under administration in August as a “technical solution” enabling debts to be written off before its takeover by US investment company Wexford Capital.
After Wexford subsequently withdrew its bid, the tribunal handling the case backed a takeover by investment company 7 Group, under the management of Italian businessman Mario Palmonella. But when 7 Group failed to produce the required funding the court cancelled this transfer.
French training company Ionis then stepped in, but withdrew its offer on 14 January before finalising its plans. This then paved the way for a last ditch bid for the company from the Alain Dumenil Group.
But on 13 February, after Dumenil failed to satisfy conditions for Air Littoral’s air operator’s certificate (AOC), the French CAA (DGAC) grounded the Air Littoral fleet. On 16 February Dumenil withdrew its offer, resulting in last night’s ruling that the carrier should be liquidated.
Prior to its entry into administration Air Littoral operated a fleet of 32 aircraft; comprising 17 Bombardier CRJ100s, five Fokker 70 jets and ten ATR turboprops.
Restructuring implemented under the 7 Group takeover saw the removal of the Fokker 70 and ATR fleets - leaving only the 17 CRJ100s – although Alain Dumenil’s plans covered only 10 of the CRJ100s.
Initially the carrier alone employed over 650 staff, although under 7 Group’s plans 211 positions within the airline were made redundant. Alain Dumenil planned to take on only 292 of the remaining 444 airline employees. Maintenance subsidiary Air Littoral Industrie - also in line for liquidation - employed 167 staff.
Training division ESMA, which was restructured from 61 staff to 53 by 7 Group, was acquired by Aeroconseil in mid-January.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news