Bust budget airline owed £20m
The administrators of failed budget airline Duo have revealed that the carrier accumulated debts of nearly £20 million before it went bust.
Deloitte said the Birmingham-based company owed creditors around £14 million and is expecting claims of up to £5 million from passengers demanding refunds.
Up to 1,000 of them will be travellers who were left stranded at more than a dozen of Duo's European destinations when the firm went into receivership on Saturday.
Details about the firm's debts were released a day after 260 out of the company's 300 staff, were made redundant.
The majority of cuts hit ground crew, engineers and flight staff based at Birmingham International Airport.
Ten employees based at Duo's second base in Edinburgh have also been axed.
The remaining workers have been kept on to help with recovering funds for creditors.
Andy Peters, a Deloitte administrator, said: "The statement of affairs will show £14 million of existing creditor claims.
"In addition to that we can expect £5 million claims from passengers who have booked and paid for flights."
A Deloitte spokesman said hundreds of travellers had already called a helpline demanding a refund for their tickets, but the administrators have said it is "uncertain" whether their will be sufficient funds to meet the claims.
