What happened to Khalifa?

[concordino]

Last i heard of the ATR fleet being grounded as the company insurance policy was expiring...

Any news on their status...?

[nomoneynowek]

Bankrupt, kaput, grounded, planeless, clueless, inept.............. and about 4 unused tickets in my bag to prove it:ouch: !

[maxrated]

Apparently the Airline's management refused to support the ALG government financially in the next ellection and things started going badly for them after that, The government stopped letting them post their earnings offshore so they could not pay their foreign suppliers, 2 of their directors were caught trying to leave the country with a few million euro's in cash in briefcases which was supposed to go to Paris CDG to pay their rather large outstanding fuel bill. This "fueled" further rumors of the airlines troubles and then shortly after that they just stopped flying, It appears that they managed to get all of their "heavy metal" aerie's out of the country before the goverment impounded them, but when I last went through Algiers it seems like all of their ATR fleet are parked on the cargo apron looking rather sorry for themeselves.
Yet again an example of a really dynamic upstart go-getting airline company that got mucked up by a government meddling in the free market economic system.

[nomoneynowek]

The alternative take on that (rumoured over an entire year by practically every Algerian talked to) is that Khalifa was a channel for some serious money laundering.

Sure, some of their flights were busy, but we would regularly fly Jhb/Alg with 25 passengers on a A340.

And it certainly wasn't a case of them "managing to get their heavy metal out before they were impounded".... Those aircraft were leased in from Turkey, Canada, France and Germany, amoungst others. The planes were pulled out by their owners because they weren't getting paid!

[concordino]

So your posts confirm my thoughts, so many people have been talking about Khalifa Airways being a money-laundering instrument for Algerian Oil money stolen by ex Algerian Army big generals and leaders.
It seems that the current government and these mobsters could reach a bargaining agreement to share this massive fortune so the guys in power shut down the operation.:}
I just heard that an Algerian driver who once worked for the same outfit as me now is now trying to come back.
He went onto the ATR fleet and claims they are going to restart soon, yet he is attempting a comeback to his old outfit…

[BAKELA]

Fellows, I don't want to stir up a hornets nest here but there's already 11 other threads on African Aviation about Khalifa. Just searched them.