Travel protection company predicts more airline failures

27.06.09

A travel protection company has warned that a spate of airline failures is likely to follow that of the low-cost, Slovakia-based airline SkyEurope, which went into administration this week. This would create a summer nightmare for holidaymakers similar to the scenes of last year, one expert has predicted.

SkyEurope carried more than 3 million passengers last year on flights across central Europe, including routes from Gatwick to Prague, Bratislava and Kosice. It filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, after months of falling passenger number, but is currently still flying as it seeks new investors.

About 50 airlines have collapsed since the start of last year – the highest number in aviation history. This included XL Airways, which caused holiday chaos for thousands of UK holidaymakers last year, with industry analysts reported to believe a further 20 airlines globally will fail this year.

A spokesman for ProtectMyHoliday.com, a financial protection company, said that SkyEurope would be the first of many airlines to fail as they run out of money during the economic downturn. He said: ‘Companies such as Sky Europe just cannot continue to haemorrhage cash. Airlines and other sectors of the travel industry simply cannot continue with the losses they are suffering.’

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