DALLAS – Norwegian low-cost carrier (LCC) Flyr AS (FS) is in serious financial difficulties after failing to secure additional funding. The airline announced that it is now facing a “critical short-term liquidity situation.”
FS said that an attempt to secure funding of NOK330m (US$33.27m) through a partial wet lease agreement of its Boeing 737-800 and 737-8 fleet had failed.
The agreement was announced earlier this month with an undisclosed customer to operate charter flights from May to October. The potential deal was valued at around NOK90m (US$9.1m).
Assessing Alternatives
An official statement on the airline’s website said that its board “will assess whether there are alternatives for continued operation.”
It added that the company “has no scheduled flights on Tuesday and information about future flights will be shared as soon as possible.”
FS has been struggling for several months and cut back services during the winter in an attempt to reduce costs. It announced plans to raise much-needed “near-term liquidity” in November via a private share placement. However, the scheme was dropped after failing to reach enough subscribers.
Financial Woes
The Oslo (OSL) based carrier launched operations in June 2021 to fill the gap left by the downsizing of Norwegian (DY). In 2022 it carried some 1.6 million passengers, enjoying load factors of between 80 ad 90% on flights to various European leisure destinations.
Despite working on alternative arrangements “to rescue the business,” it added that it has “no guarantee that a solution that would create a meaningful shareholder value for the current shareholders will be found.”
This is a developing situation, and we will keep you updated with the latest news.
Featured Image: Flyr Boeing 737 TC-CPJ now re-registered LN-FGB. Photo: Malcolm Nason/Airways.
