Swiss Regional Carrier Has Been Grounded For Two Weeks

Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airlines has finally thrown in the towel and admitted it is facing bankruptcy two weeks after the Swiss government grounded the carrier.

The website swissinfo.ch reports that the airline notified its 250 employees on Tuesday that bankruptcy "was imminent" following several months of attempts to turn the airline around.

The trade union ICST said that Darwin's staff had not been paid since October, according to the report. The carriers planes were grounded in November when its license was revoked by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). The carrier filed for insolvency the Monday following the revocation of the license.

The dominoes began to fall for Darwin when Alitalia, the flag carrier for Italy filed for bankruptcy in May, causing the loss of contracts with that airline. Then came the unexpected failure of Air Berlin, which put additional pressure on Darwin.

The loss of Darwin Airline is likely to also have a negative impact on Lugano airport in southern Switzerland where the carrier was based. The airport is reportedly actively looking for another carrier to maintain routes to Rome and Geneva.

(Image from YouTube)

FMI: Original Report