Laidback,
As you have raised certain questions in your post, I would like to reply.
so accounts are late...how many late accounts in the UK?
A. Many companies file accounts late, but not usually without a good reason for doing so, which is often because they wish to keep information out of the public domain as long as possible.
so there's an op loss, but is it manageable?,
Of course, any operating loss is manageable if you have the cash flow to do it. The significance of this particular scenario is that the cumulative losses for 2000, 2001, 2002 are likely to be considerably more than the last recorded loss of £2.48m.
does it matter to the incoming ?
Who can say, we have not seen the figures for 2001, 2002, but given the equipment they fly, and the other problems they have, any purchaser would need to have a very good reason to buy them, and probably deep pockets.
Don't all tubes guzzle gas at similar prices?
A. No, the fleet operated by European is of the 1970s vintage, old equipment with high maintenance costs and high fuel burns. Our company has done a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of operating old and new, and yes there are savings on fixed costs, but the direct costs are very high by comparison.
Poor winter..answer as for op loss.
A. Not quite so, the operating loss reflects a yearly accumulative figure, so if the airline was profitable it would still show a bottom line profit, a poor winter would affect cash flow.
I only did a couple of very basic checks to establish the facts I posted, I have a lot of experience from the corporate world, and take an active interest in the commercial position of airlines. I will not volunteer an opinion on this particular one, but I do wish all who are employed there the very best of luck whatever happens.