Spanish airline Air Comet confirmed today that it will file for protection from creditors and lay off all of its staff after an attempt to sell the struggling carrier failed.
In a statement, Air Comet's parent company Grupo Marsans SA said a London High Court has constrained Air Comet from using any of its air planes and ordered the company not to sell tickets. All flights have been suspended. The company, which specialized in cheap flights between Spain and Latin America, had been in financial trouble for months.
The airline will begin bankruptcy proceedings and request permission from the Spanish government to dismiss all of its roughly 700 employees. Air Comet, owned by the Marsans group and entrepreneur Gonzalo Pascual, made the decision amid a lack of money to make lease payments on its aircraft. Union officials say company directors told them Air Comet owes $25 million (17.2 million euros) in lease payments to German-based Nord Bank, which persuaded a court in London to impound the carrier’s planes and ban the airline from selling any more tickets. Air Comet’s shutdown comes three years after another Spanish budget carrier, Air Madrid, ceased operations on the eve of the peak period for holiday travel, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.
In a statement, Air Comet's parent company Grupo Marsans SA said a London High Court has constrained Air Comet from using any of its air planes and ordered the company not to sell tickets. All flights have been suspended. The company, which specialized in cheap flights between Spain and Latin America, had been in financial trouble for months.
The airline will begin bankruptcy proceedings and request permission from the Spanish government to dismiss all of its roughly 700 employees. Air Comet, owned by the Marsans group and entrepreneur Gonzalo Pascual, made the decision amid a lack of money to make lease payments on its aircraft. Union officials say company directors told them Air Comet owes $25 million (17.2 million euros) in lease payments to German-based Nord Bank, which persuaded a court in London to impound the carrier’s planes and ban the airline from selling any more tickets. Air Comet’s shutdown comes three years after another Spanish budget carrier, Air Madrid, ceased operations on the eve of the peak period for holiday travel, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.
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