Fuel Prices Lead to the Demise of Yet Another Airline
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Berlin-based budget airline Germania has filed for bankruptcy, citing the rising cost of fuel and currency fluctuations as two main factors in its demise.
“We ultimately failed to successfully complete our financing efforts to meet short-term liquidity needs,” managing director Karsten Balke said in a statement. “We very much regret that, as a consequence, we had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.”
All Germania flights to 42 destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East were cancelled effective immediately, and travelers who booked directly with the carrier would not be offered replacement flights.
The low-cost carrier was founded in 1978 and recently transported more than four million passengers a year. This is the second German airline within two years to drown amidst financial woes. Air Berlin, the nation’s second largest airline at the time, claimed insolvency in August 2017.
Germany isn’t the only country with struggling budget carriers. Ryanair announced Monday that the airline suffered a net loss of $22.4 million in Q3 2018 — the ultra low-cost carrier’s first since March 2014.
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