Leisure firm Thomas Cook Group and its associated UK companies have filed for compulsory liquidation after discussions on recapitalisation and restructuring fell through. The company says in a 23 September statement that the discussions "have not resulted in agreement" between its stakeholders and potential investors, leaving the board with "no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect." It made the application to the UK High Court and was granted permission to appoint an official receiver to act as the company's liquidator. Special managers were appointed to assist the official receiver with the liquidation, the UK government says in a statement. AlixPartners has been assigned to oversee the airline and tour operator companies, and KPMG, the retail division and aircraft maintenance companies. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also stepped in to conduct repatriation flights between 23 September and 6 October, either with CAA-operated flights or existing flights with other carriers depending on location. "We have worked exhaustively in the past few days to resolve the outstanding issues on an agreement to secure Thomas Cook’s future for its employees, customers and suppliers. Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable," says Thomas Cook's chief executive Peter Fankhauser. The fate of Thomas Cook Airlines' affiliated carriers based in Denmark and Spain remains unclear, as their websites are offline at the time of writing. However, its German affiliate Condor posted on its Twitter account stating that it remains in operation, even though its website is offline. Just days before, Thomas Cook Group said on 20 September that it was in discussions to secure a £200 million ($250 million) standby fund on top of its previous capital injection. Earlier, it reached a provisional agreement covering the "key commercial terms" of a £900 million capital injection, one involving Chinese tourism group Fosun, with plans to implement by October.

Source: FlightGlobal

Slovenia’s Adria Airways is suspending operations, having become the latest major carrier to run into financial problems.
Adria Airways is halting all flights on 24-25 September, claiming that the measure is “temporary”. All services from Ljubljana, Pristina and Tirana will be halted. The carrier states that it is trying to secure fresh capital to continue flight operations. Adria says that it is “intensively searching” for a financial solution with potential – but unidentified – investors. “The aim of everyone involved is to make Adria Airways fly again,” it says. “The company deeply regrets the situation and apologises to all its passengers and partners.” It is advising passengers to check with sales offices before travelling to the airport. Adria has a mixed fleet primarily comprising Airbus A319s and Bombardier CRJs, as well as a batch of leased Saab 2000s. It was acquired by the German fund 4K Invest in 2016 but underwent a change of majority shareholder earlier this year.

Source: FlightGlobal

Investigators are probing another serious engine failure on a Swiss Airbus A220-300, less than two months after a previous similar incident involving a sister aircraft on the same route. The aircraft (HB-JCA) had been operating Geneva-London Heathrow on 16 September when the failure occurred in the left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine during climb. US National Transportation Safety Board investigators state that the incident took place just before the twinjet reached its cruising altitude of 35,000ft. The crew returned to Geneva after carrying out quick-reference handbook procedures and declaring an emergency. Inspection of the aircraft after it landed showed that the stage-one rotor in the low-pressure compressor had separated and there was a hole in the compressor case. None of the 77 occupants were injured. French investigators were already looking into the failure of the left-hand PW1500G on another Swiss A220-300, under similar circumstances, on 25 July. The aircraft (HB-JCM) had departed Geneva for Heathrow and had been climbing through 32,000ft when the failure occurred. Investigation authority BEA subsequently sought public assistance to find engine components which they believe were shed from the aircraft over France. The stage-one rotor of the low-pressure compressor was found to be missing after the jet diverted to Paris. The aircraft involved in the latest incident was delivered to Swiss in May 2017. It had been operating the LX358 service while the earlier event occurred to flight LX348.

Source: FlightGlobal